DEC  11  1919 


Winning  the  World  for  Christ 


THE  COLE  LECTURES 

Winning  the  World  for  Christ 

By  Bishop  Walter  R.  Lambuth.     Cloth net  1.25 

Personal  Christianity 

By  Bishop  Francis  J.  McConnell.    Cloth net  1.25 

I913 

The  God  We  Trust 

By  G.  A.Johnston  Ross.      Cloth net  1.25 

igi2 
What  Does  Christianity  Mean  ? 

By  W.  H.  p.  Faunce.     Cloth net  1.25 

igii 
Some  Great  Leaders  in  the 
World  Movement 

By  Robert  E.  Speer.      Cloth net  1.25 

igio 
In  the  School  of  Christ 

By  Bishop  William  Fraser  McDowell.    Cloth,  net  1.25 

igog 
Jesus  the  Worker 

By  Charles  McTyeire  Bishop,  D.  D.     Cloth,  net  1.25 

igo8 
The  Fact  of  Conversion 

By  George  Jackson,  B.  A.    Cloth net  1.25 

igoy 
God's  Message  to  the  Human  Soul 

By  John   Watson   (Ian  Maclaren).     The  Cole  Lectures 
prepared  but  not  deliver td.      Cloth net  1.25 

igo6 
Christ  and  Science 

By  Francis  Henry  Smith,  University  of  Virginia. 
Cloth net  1.25 

^905 

The   Universal    Elements  of  the 
Christian  Religion 

By  Charles  Cuthbert  Hall.     Cloth net  1.25 

igoj 
The  Religion  of  the  Incarnation 

By  Bishop  Eugene  Russell  Hendrix.     Cloth... net  1.00 


D^ 


The    Cole    Lectures  for  IQI^ 

ddi'vered  before  Vanderhilt  Uni'versity 


Winning  the  World 
for  Christ 

A  Study  in  Dynamics 


By 
WALTER  RUSSELL  LAMBUTH 

One  of  the  Bishops  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South 


Ira 


New  York  Chicago  Toronto 

Fleming    H.    Revell    Company 

London  and  Edinburgh 


Copyright,  191 5,  by 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago:  125  North  Wabash  Ave. 
Toronto:  25  Richmond  Street,  W. 
London:  21  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh:      100    Princes    Street 


To  my  Wife 

whose  intellige7it  cooperation^ 
heroic  self-denial  and 
steadfast  faith  in  God^ 

have  been  a  constant  source 
of  inspiration  in  missionary 
life  abroad  and  missionary 
labours  at  home 


THE  COLE  LECTURES 

THE  late  Colonel  E.  W.  Cole  of  Nashville,  Ten- 
nessee, donated  to  Vanderbilt  University  the  sum 
of  five  thousand  dollars,  afterwards  increased  by 
Mrs.  E.  W.  Cole  to  ten  thousand,  the  design  and  con- 
ditions of  which  gift  are  stated  as  follows  : 

«« The  object  of  this  fund  is  to  establish  a  foundation 
for  a  perpetual  Lectureship  in  connection  with  the  Bib- 
lical Department  of  the  University,  to  be  restricted  in  its 
scope  to  a  defense  and  advocacy  of  the  Christian  re- 
ligion. The  lectures  shall  be  delivered  at  such  inter- 
vals, from  time  to  time,  as  shall  be  deemed  best  by  the 
Board  of  Trust ;  and  the  particular  theme  and  lecturer 
shall  be  determined  by  nomination  of  the  Theological 
Faculty  and  confirmation  of  the  College  of  Bishops  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South.  Said  lecture 
shall  always  be  reduced  to  writing  in  full,  and  the  man- 
uscript of  the  same  shall  be  the  property  of  the  Univer- 
sity, to  be  published  or  disposed  of  by  the  Board  of 
Trust  at  its  discretion,  the  net  proceeds  arising  there- 
from to  be  added  to  the  foundation  fund,  or  otherwise 
used  for  the  benefit  of  the  Biblical  Department." 


Preface 

THESE  lectures  are  not  intended  as  a 
review  of  the  world-field  of  missions, 
home  or  foreign,  with  an  attempt 
to  bring  out  progress  made,  areas  unoccu- 
pied, or  critical  needs,  as  imperative  as  those 
needs  are.  Nor  is  this  a  discussion  of  mis- 
sions from  the  standpoint  of  principles  and 
policy.  It  is  an  attempt,  rather,  to  make 
some  contribution  to  missionary  dynamics  by 
a  study  of  the  sources  of  inspiration  and 
power. 

Great  emphasis  has  rightly  been  placed,  by 
missionary  leaders,  upon  the  needs  of  the  un- 
evangelized  millions,  the  urgency  of  the  task, 
the  unprecedented  opportunity  of  the  hour, 
the  commission  to  the  Church,  and  the  com- 
mand to  go  which  constitutes  the  divine  im- 
perative. 

As  great  as  is  the  demand  for  widening 
the  area  of  effort  abroad,  the  greater  need 
of  the  hour  is  that  of  deepened  conviction  at 
home.  We  must  have  a  new  sense  of  God, 
realize  the  immanence  of  the  Kingdom,  the 
place  and  importance  of  intercessory  prayer, 
9 


lO  PREFACE 

the  personality  and  power  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  the  necessity  for  heroic  service  and 
sacrifice,  the  mission  of  the  Church,  and  the 
preeminence  of  Christ  who  is  Head  over  all. 

If  we  can  be  brought  to  a  true  and  vivid 
realization  of  these  things,  and  the  Church 
can  be  adequately  awakened  to  a  sense  of 
God-given  mission,  an  immense  stride  will 
have  been  made  towards  the  goal  set  before 
us  in  the  prayer  of  Jesus  Christ — **  Thy  King- 
dom come." 

Walter  R.  Lambuth. 

Oakdale^  CaL 


Contents 


I. 

The  Kingdom  of  God 

13 

II. 

The   Holy  Spirit:     God  Seeking 
Man 

61 

III. 

Prayer  :     Man  Seeking  God  . 

III 

IV. 

Missions  and  the  Heroic 

153 

V. 

A  Missionary  Church 

201 

VI. 

The  Preeminence  of  Christ  . 

247 

II 


LECTURE  I 
THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD 


LECTURE  I 
THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD 

THE  purpose  of  God  in  relation  to 
His  Kingdom  runs  like  a  golden 
thread  throughout  His  revelation  to 
man.  The  promise  to  Adam  was  that  the 
seed  of  the  woman  should  bruise  the  serpent's 
head,  and  to  Abraham  that  in  him  all  the 
families  of  the  earth  should  be  blessed.  The 
mission  of  God's  chosen  people  and  of  His 
Son  to  the  nations  of  the  earth,  lay  embedded 
in  this  promise,  but  for  centuries  the  con- 
sciousness and  meaning  of  it  seemed  ob- 
scured. It  was  Isaiah  who  took  up  the 
thread  and  pointed  to  the  fact  that  in  Israel 
should  be  the  hope  of  the  world's  evangeliza- 
tion :  "  And  the  nations  shall  come  to  thy 
light,  and  kings  to  the  brightness  of  thy 
rising." 

How  beautiful  the  outburst  of  song  from 
this  prophet  of  evangelism,  who  exclaims — 
"  O  Zion,  that  bringeth  good  tidings,  get  thee 
up  into  the  high  mountains."  It  is  Zion 
which  has  been  made  the  depository  of  God's 
15 


l6  THE   KINGDOM   OF  GOD 

truth ;  the  illustration  of  His  providence ; 
and  the  chosen  vessel  for  bearing  the  good 
tidings  of  God's  purpose  to  the  Gentiles — 
His  mercy,  and  the  possibility  and  certainty 
of  the  redemption  of  all  who  believe.  It  is 
up  into  the  high  mountains  of  spiritual  privi- 
lege that  Zion  must  go,  for  breadth  of  vision, 
for  a  sense  of  God's  nearness,  for  mighty 
faith,  and  for  that  aspiration  which  must 
come  to  every  man  who  would  do  the  will  of 
God. 

Prior  to  His  death  and  resurrection,  the 
words  of  Jesus,  "I  am  not  sent  but  unto  the 
lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel,"  would 
seem  to  imply  a  nationalistic  program.  His 
later,  and  more  striking  statement,  however, 
points  to  the  widest  reach  of  evangelism, 
*'  And  this  gospel  of  the  Kingdom  shall  be 
preached  in  all  the  world  for  a  witness  unto 
all  nations ;  and  then  shall  the  end  come." 
How  compassionate  the  yearning  of  the 
Great  Shepherd,  who  knows  no  distinction 
of  nation  or  race,  when  He  adds,  "  And  other 
sheep  I  have,  which  are  not  of  this  fold : 
them  also  I  must  bring,  and  they  shall  hear 
My  voice  ;  there  shall  be  one  fold,  and  one 
shepherd." 

After  the  resurrection,  the  expression  of 
His  purpose  becomes  more  definite,  and  the 


THE  KINGDOM   OF  GOD  1 7 

Great  Commission  is  given  to  the  Church, 
"  Go  and  make  disciples  of  all  nations."  The 
Bishop  of  Ely  says,  "  The  apostles  were  so 
engrossed  in  their  work  in  Jerusalem  that 
the  memory  of  our  Lord's  words  about  *  All 
the  nations'  lay  dormant  in  their  minds. 
.  .  .  The  first  onward  step  was  taken, 
not  due  to  any  conscious  purpose  on  their 
part,  but  was  the  result  of  a  divinely  ordered 
evolution  of  events — a  great  sign  of  the  truth- 
fulness of  the  record." 

Stephen's  sermon  and  martyrdom  were 
followed  by  persecution  and  the  dispersion 
of  the  believers,  thus  ushering  in  the  second 
period  of  their  history,  in  which  the  Church 
was  extended  through  Judeaand  into  Samaria. 
The  disciples  seemed  to  have  no  clearly  de- 
fined evangelistic  policy.  They  were  led,  here 
and  there,  by  the  Spirit,  or  rather  thrust  out. 
The  Holy  Spirit  became  the  Administrator  of 
the  Church.  He  took  personal  charge  of  the 
missionary  movement  which  might  otherwise 
have  suffered  a  relapse  in  its  third  stage.  He 
it  was  who  searched  for  men,  endued  them 
with  power,  separated  them  for  the  work, 
sent  them  out,  and  carried  forward  the  divine 
order  of  expansion  as  announced  by  Jesus — 
Jerusalem,  Judea,  Samaria,  the  uttermost 
parts  of  the  earth. 


1 8  THE  KINGDOM   OF  GOD 

We  have  too  often  obscured  the  truth  by 
our  attempts  to  define  it.  Men  instead  of 
seeing  more  clearly  have  become  befogged. 
Jesus  made  clear  what  He  meant  by  the 
Kingdom  of  God  in  terms  of  His  Gospel. 
He  does  not  demand  the  acceptance  of 
dogma,  but  asks  that  men  shall  accept  Him. 
His  Gospel  seeks  a  redeemed  personality. 
If  we  could  once  get  men  to  reaUze  the  value 
and  possibilities  of  a  redeemed  personality, 
and  that  the  redemption  of  nature  even  is 
wrapped  up  in  it,  they  would  rejoice  in  a 
treasure  beyond  all  the  world's  accumulated 
wealth,  as  vast  as  that  may  be.  Jesus  said, 
"  Seek  ye  first  His  Kingdom  and  His  right- 
eousness and  all  these  things  shall  be  added 
unto  you."  The  Kingdom  of  God  is  one  of 
life,  and  the  Gospel  of  His  Kingdom  is  that 
of  a  life-giving  Redeemer,  who  not  only  died 
to  save,  but  rose  again  to  bestow  more  abun- 
dant life,  and  to  interpret  that  life  in  terms  of 
Christly  service. 

The  task  which  Jesus  set  for  Himself  was 
to  get  men  to  apprehend  and  to  accept  the 
truth  of  God's  Fatherhood,  to  throw  them- 
selves into  God's  plan,  to  reverently  pray  for 
the  coming  of  His  Kingdom,  and  to  fashion 
their  own  lives  in  accordance  with  the  will  of 
God.     Why  such  a  task  ?     It  was  that  they 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD  19 

should  realize  through  His  teaching  and  life 
that  the  doing  of  the  Father's  will  was  the 
only  possible  fulfillment  of  their  sonship  in 
Him.  Without  such  filial  obedience  upon 
His  part  and  theirs  there  could  be  no  reve- 
lation of  Fatherhood,  no  complete  man- 
hood, and  no  effective  service  towards  men. 
"  Though  He  was  a  Son,  yet  learned  He  obe- 
dience by  the  things  which  He  suffered ;  and 
having  been  made  perfect.  He  became  unto 
all  them  that  obey  Him  the  author  of  eternal 
salvation."  ^ 

It  is  only  to  the  man  who  surrenders  him- 
self to  God  in  the  spirit  of  absolute  obedience 
that  God  can  more  fully  reveal  His  character, 
His  purpose  and  Himself.  Obedience  must 
precede  fuller  revelation.  It  would  be  an  im- 
possibility to  reveal  holiness  and  love  to  an 
ungodly  mind,  and  an  unlovely  heart.  If  it 
were  possible,  it  would  be  a  waste,  and  God 
is  not  wasteful  of  His  resources.  His  grace 
abounds  and  He  can  supply  all  our  need, 
but  the  object  of  God's  gifts  to  men  is  not 
so  much  "  that  we  may  possess  the  gift,  but 
that  through  the  possession  of  the  gift  we 
may  possess  Him." 

In  the  Kingdom  of  God,  therefore,  obedi- 
ence is  always  central  and  fundamental.     It 

1  Heb.  V.  8,  9. 


20  THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD 

is  the  key  to  power,  because  it  is  the  key  to 
knowledge,  and  knowledge  is  power.  In  the 
Scripture  it  is  made  the  condition  of  spiritual 
insight.  David  was  sound  both  in  his  phi- 
losophy and  in  his  principles  of  pedagogy 
when  he  said,  **  I  have  more  understanding 
than  all  my  teachers  because  I  keep  Thy 
commandments."  There  is  neither  philoso- 
pher nor  scientist  who  makes  any  progress 
without  that  obedience  to  law,  written  deep 
in  mind  or  in  matter,  so  necessary  to  all  true 
attainment  in  knowledge. 

After  all,  it  is  not  so  much  what  we  have 
attained  in  science,  literature  or  religion,  as 
what  we  would  attain.  Not  so  much  the 
goal  reached,  as  the  process  of  development 
while  striving  to  reach  the  goal.  The  same 
law  holds  with  society  as  with  the  individual. 
Our  growth  is  a  very  real  part  of  the  growth 
of  the  Kingdom  because  its  mighty  forces  are 
turned  in  upon  our  lives.  We  cannot  sepa- 
rate ourselves  from  it,  save  as  we  lend  our- 
selves to  willful  disobedience.  The  Kingdom 
of  God  is  not  so  much  advanced  by  our 
efforts  to  build  it  up  as  by  our  yielding  our- 
selves to  being  built  up  into  it.  Here  lies  the 
secret  power  in  Christianity.  A  living  sacri- 
fice is  a  more  real  contribution  to  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  Kingdom  than  our  efforts 


THE  KINGDOM   OF  GOD  21 

or  our  gifts.  Even  our  prayers  are  unavail- 
ing if  unaccompanied  by  a  vi^illingness  to 
have  God's  purpose  wrought  into  our  lives. 

'*  What  force  was  it,"  asks  Fitchett  in  re- 
ferring to  John  Wesley,  **  which  knitted  a  life 
divided  amongst  so  many  interests  into 
unity ;  which  gave  to  a  single  human  will  a 
resisting  power  as  of  hardened  steel ;  and 
which  made  a  fallible  man  a  force  so  tre- 
mendous, and  kept  him  at  a  level  so  high  ? 
The  explanation  lies  in  the  spiritual  realm. 
Wesley  had  mastered  the  central  secret  of 
Christianity.  He  lived,  he  wrought,  he 
preached,  he  wrote,  he  toiled,  under  the  un- 
divided empire  of  the  august  motive,  the  di- 
vine forces  of  religion."  ^ 

Principal  Cairnes  asks  the  question,  **  What 
is  the  Gospel  but  simply  the  greatest  answer 
to  prayer  on  human  record?  Is  it  a  mere 
accident  that  the  central  aim  of  the  New 
Testament  is  eternal  life,  and  its  central  fact 
is  the  resurrection  of  our  Lord?" 

As  we  study  nature,  man  and  the  super- 
natural in  relation  to  Jesus  Christ,  the  central 
figure  of  the  New  Testament,  we  find  new 
light  breaking  upon  both  the  Gospel  and  the 
world.  It  is  nature  being  subdued  for  man, 
man  being  redeemed  for  God,  and  the  forces 

1  Fitchett,  "  Wesley  and  His  Century,"  p.  203. 


22  THE   KINGDOM   OF   GOD 

of  both  nature  and  the  supernatural  placed  at 
man's  disposal  to  work  with  God  in  the  re- 
demption of  the  world.  The  Gospel  is  in- 
deed an  answer  to  man's  age-long  prayer  for 
freedom,  life,  dominion  and  for  fellowship 
with  God. 

Sonship  with  God,  heirship,  fellowship, 
are  terms  which  abound  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. But  we  have  failed  to  catch  their 
ring,  and  measure  their  significance — en- 
larged life,  divine  heritage,  noble  companion- 
ship, a  share  as  coworkers  in  God's  own  re- 
demptive scheme.  Man's  nature  undergoes 
redemption,  his  soul  a  transformation,  and 
spiritual  illumination  is  coupled  with  divine 
energy.  It  is  a  rediscovery  of  man's  sphere, 
a  renewed  emphasis  upon  man's  work.  He 
entered  the  workshop  of  the  world  a  child, 
he  goes  out  of  it  a  master  workman,  when 
he  learns  to  obey  divinely  ordered  laws, 
grasps  his  tools,  fashions  thought  and  bends 
his  will,  until  he  too  becomes  a  world  builder. 

Are  not  nations  being  trained  by  their  ma- 
terial enterprises  for  a  larger  share  in  the 
control  of  spiritual  forces  ?  We  are  not  blind 
to  the  peril  of  what  has  been  well  termed 
**the  atheism  of  force."  But  it  is  only  a 
question  of  who  is  master  and  who  slave.  If 
man  masters  the  forces  of  nature  as  a  means 


THE   KINGDOM   OF  GOD  23 

of  equipment  for  higher  service,  he  harnesses 
them  to  his  purpose  and  sweeps  into  a  realm 
where  the  higher  rules  the  lower,  and  the 
spiritual  dominates  the  material. 

Knowledge  is  power.  Money  is  power. 
These  are  tremendously  potential  and  fraught 
with  blessing  to  mankind  if  in  their  applica- 
tion they  are  free  from  low  ideals  and  base 
motives.  Made  subservient  to  the  will  of 
God  in  a  true  sense  of  trusteeship,  for  all 
power  is  from  Him,  they  are  well-nigh  om- 
nipotent in  the  service  of  mankind. 

But  to  wield  these  forces  as  masters  and 
not  slaves,  our  conception  of  God  must  grow 
with  our  conception  of  commercial  expansion 
and  civic  rights,  scientific  achievement  and 
political  relationships.  The  God-idea  must 
travel  ahead  of  these.  We  may  make  the 
Kingdom  of  God  provincial  by  a  narrow  and 
contracted  idea  of  God.  We  need  a  great 
God — Christianity  demands  a  great  God, 
our  age  requires  a  great  God,  we  have  a 
great  God.  His  Kingdom  is  related  to  every 
phase  of  life  and  department  of  effort;  its 
claims  upon  man  are  supreme,  universal,  all 
embracing.  In  it  there  is  neither  secular  nor 
religious.     It  is  all  God's. 

We  are  more  desirous  of  identifying  God 
with  our  little  plans  than  we  are  of  identify- 


24  THE   KINGDOM   OF  GOD 

ing  ourselves  with  His  great  purpose.  We 
are  too  often  more  concerned  about  human 
philosophy  than  we  are  about  the  divine  will. 
To  find  out  what  God  thinks,  and  to  think 
His  thoughts  after  Him  ;  to  find  out  how  God 
moves,  and  then  to  move  with  Him  should 
be  our  chief  concern.  It  is  said  of  Abraham 
Lincoln  that  a  group  of  Chicago  ministers 
waited  upon  him,  at  an  anxious  period  of  the 
Civil  War,  and  gave  the  assurance  that  the 
Almighty  was  on  his  side.  "Gentlemen," 
the  great  President  replied,  **  I  am  not  so 
concerned  about  His  being  on  my  side,  as 
about  being  sure  that  I  am  on  the  side  of  the 
Almighty." 

To  win  the  world  for  Christ,  we  must  give 
Christ  to  the  world.  It  is  not  to  be  won  in 
any  other  way.  We  are  powerless  to  draw 
men  to  Him,  save  as  we  give  Christ  and  our- 
selves to  them.  Civilization  is  powerless, 
culture  is  powerless,  education  is  powerless, 
the  Church  is  powerless.  These  may  inter- 
pret Him  and  His  life,  but  upon  the  other 
hand,  they  may  utterly  misinterpret  both  His 
mind  and  His  spirit.  It  is  by  His  suffering, 
through  His  death  and  resurrection,  and  by 
His  grace,  that  He  will  draw  the  world  to 
Himself.  "  And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the 
earth,  will  draw  all  men  unto  Me." 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD  25 

The  world  needs  a  Christ  that  can  meet  its 
deepest  need,  win  it  from  sin,  satisfy  its  heart- 
hunger,  inspire  it  with  a  new  hope  and  create 
a  purpose  to  do  the  will  of  God.  It  is  by 
discovering  a  larger  Christ  for  ourselves,  and 
by  giving  Him  and  ourselves  to  the  world, 
that  we  are  to  bring  in  the  Kingdom  of  God. 
The  mission  of  Christ  was  to  establish  the 
Kingdom  of  God  among  men.  Our  mission 
is  to  receive  and  reproduce  that  Kingdom  in 
our  own  lives,  by  faith,  by  prayer,  by  heroic 
service,  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and 
by  the  making  of  Christ  preeminent. 

What  is  the  Kingdom  of  God  as  it  relates 
to  man  ?  Jesus  does  not  attempt  to  define  it. 
He  describes  and  illustrates  it.  It  is  the  king- 
dom of  divine  sovereignty  and  human  obedi- 
ence, of  Fatherhood  and  sonship,  of  law  and 
grace,  of  life  and  service,  of  prayer  and  fel- 
lowship. It  is  the  kingdom  of  heavenly 
grace  poured  into  earthen  vessels ;  of  brother- 
hood, loving  service,  tender  forgiveness, 
manly  aspiration  and  character — not  as  an 
end,  but  as  a  fruitage  of  the  Spirit. 

In  its  simplest  definition,  the  evangeliza- 
tion of  the  world  means  the  establishing  of 
the  Kingdom  of  God  by  bearing  the  glad 
tidings  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Saviour  of  men. 
to  every  creature.     This  is  to  be  done  by 


26  THE   KINGDOM   OF  GOD 

preaching,  by  teaching,  by  personal  testi- 
mony, by  a  life  of  loving  service  and  by  tell- 
ing the  story  of  Jesus'  life  and  ministry,  and 
the  purpose  of  His  death  and  resurrection. 

The  message  must  be  in  simple  terms, 
but  sufficient  in  substance  for  any  man,  and 
for  all  men  to  know  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  be- 
lieve in  Him  as  their  personal  Saviour  and 
Lord.  It  must  be  delivered  intelligently, 
faithfully,  lovingly,  and  in  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  upon  whom  reliance  must  be 
placed  for  conviction  of  sin,  quickening  of 
spirit  and  transformation  of  life. 

There  is  no  warrant  in  the  Scriptures  for 
believing  that  all  who  hear  will  accept  the 
Gospel.  Many  failed  to  believe  in  Christ 
under  His  own  gracious  ministry,  and  some 
even  in  His  own  village.  He  did  not  relax 
His  efforts,  howeven  It  brought  Him  deeper 
anguish  of  soul,  but  He  persisted  in  His 
work.  As  for  us.  His  command  is  to  go 
into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  Gospel  to 
every  creature.  The  failure  to  accept  does 
not  relieve  us  of  responsibility,  but  increases 
it.  Results  must  be  left  with  God.  Our 
responsibility  is  that  of  presenting  the  mes- 
sage in  tenderer,  clearer,  stronger  terms,  and 
with  the  expectation  that  the  Holy  Spirit  will 
continue  to  strive  with  those  whom  we  would 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD  27 

reach.  The  love  of  God  is  like  the  deepest 
depths  of  the  sea — unfathomable.  The  win- 
ning of  men  means  large  and  increasing 
drafts  upon  the  unsearchable,  unfathomable 
riches  of  that  love.  Great  soul-winners  have 
always  been  those  who  have  learned  this. 
They  have  had  the  faith  to  believe  that  the 
Gospel  of  Christ  can  save  to  the  uttermost, 
has  the  power  to  strengthen  the  weakest,  en- 
rich the  poorest,  and  ennoble  the  most  de- 
graded. 

Jesus  came  to  establish  the  Kingdom  of 
God.  This  was  the  purpose  and  meaning 
of  the  incarnation.  It  was  the  deep  meaning 
of  His  passion,  His  death  and  the  power  of 
His  resurrection.  We  may  go  further  and 
say  it  is  the  explanation  of  the  statement  that 
He  liveth  to  make  intercession  for  humanity, 
and  of  the  fact  of  His  presence  in  the  world 
through  the  person  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  In 
coming  to  establish  the  Kingdom,  He  was 
carrying  out  the  purpose  of  God  which  had 
been  determined  upon  before  the  foundation 
of  the  world.  It  was  the  Word,  the  Eternal 
Creative  Word  that  was  made  flesh  and 
dwelt  among  us  and  it  was  His  glory  that 
men  beheld,  the  glory  of  the  only  begotten 
Son  of  God. 

In  the  Kingdom  Jesus  came  to  establish 


28  THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD 

there  was  one  central  truth  which  He  made 
fundamental  in  the  presentation  of  His  Gos- 
pel. It  was  central  when  He  laid  down  the 
principles  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  the 
Sermon  upon  the  Mount ;  and  it  must  be  so 
in  every  presentation  of  saving  truth  to  man. 
It  is  the  fact  of  the  Fatherhood  of  God. 
Lying  deep  within  that  truth  is  another — a 
corollary  of  the  first — the  brotherhood  of  man. 

**  A  hundred  other  statements  regarding  it, 
regarding  Jesus  who  was  incarnate,  are  true ; 
but  all  statements  concerning  Him  hold  their 
truth  within  this  truth — that  Jesus  came  to 
restore  the  fact  of  God's  Fatherhood  to  man's 
knowledge,  and  to  its  central  place  of  power 
over  man's  life.  Jesus  is  mysteriously  the 
Word  of  God  made  flesh.  He  is  the  worker 
of  amazing  miracles  upon  the  bodies  and  the 
souls  of  men.  He  is  the  convincer  of  sin. 
He  is  the  Saviour  by  suffering.  But  behind 
all  these  He  is  the  redeemer  of  man  into  the 
Fatherhood  of  God."  ^ 

It  is  in  the  presentation  of  these  two  great 
truths  of  divine  Fatherhood  and  human 
brotherhood,  included  in  the  Sonship  and 
Saviourhood  of  Jesus  Christ,  that  the  world  is 
to  be  won.  This  is  the  world's  evangel.  This 
is  what  we  mean  by  the  evangelization  of  the 

*  Phillips  Brooks,  "  The  Influence  of  Jesus,"  p.  12. 


THE  KINGDOM   OF  GOD  29 

world.  There  is  no  avenue  of  approach 
more  open  to  men  than  that  of  fatherhood. 
It  has  personality  in  it.  There  is  a  sense  of 
nearness  and  warmth.  It  is  full  of  the  idea  of 
strength  and  care.  The  deeper  relations  of  life 
are  here.  It  includes  the  right  of  authority 
upon  the  part  of  a  father,  and  of  the  obligation 
of  obedience  upon  the  part  of  the  child.  But 
no  appeal  can  rest  here.  It  is  inadequate.  It 
must  go  back  to  the  divine  Fatherhood.  It 
must  seek  the  sense  of  God,  or  if  there  be 
none,  it  must  be  created. 

Years  ago,  during  a  missionary  journey 
upon  a  little  coasting  vessel  on  the  Inland 
Sea  of  Japan,  I  fell  into  conversation  with  a 
passenger.  It  was  stormy,  and  we  sat  upon 
our  red  blankets  spread  upon  the  deck. 
Every  approach  to  Christianity  was  skillfully 
warded  ofi  until  the  relationship  of  father- 
hood was  mentioned.  He  assented,  and  to 
the  responsibility  growing  out  of  it,  but  being 
a  Confucianist  held  strictly  and  firmly  to  the 
narrow  circle  of  the  five  human  relationships. 
I  changed  the  appeal  and  made  it  upon  the 
broader  basis  of  the  Fatherhood  of  the  race — 
higher,  larger,  fuller  of  divine  care  and  love, 
and  to  the  omnipresent  God  and  Father  to 
every  man.    It  was  then  conviction  went  home. 

The  law  of  reciprocity  lies  deep  in  the  con- 


30  THE  KINGDOM   OF  GOD 

stitution  of  the  Kingdom.  It  is  an  economical 
as  well  as  an  ethical  necessity.  God's  will  is 
God's  law,  and  is  therefore  compelling.  It 
can  neither  be  violated  nor  ignored  with 
impunity.  In  the  intellectual  as  in  the  spiri- 
tual realm,  reciprocity  is  the  law  of  growth. 
"  He  who  would  understand  a  painting,'* 
says  Ruskin,  *'  must  give  himself  to  it."  As- 
similation must  be  followed  by  expression  or 
there  is  an  arrest  of  the  process.  To  hold  is 
to  lose.  In  order  to  keep  and  have  more, 
one  must  give  away  what  he  has.  Culture 
for  culture's  sake  is  foreign  from  Jesus' 
thought,  and  pure  intellectualism  has  no 
place  in  His  philosophy.  Indeed  He  does 
not  philosophize  about  either.  He  did 
not  come  to  establish  a  cult.  He  came  to 
give  life.  With  the  giving  there  comes  to 
man  the  enrichment  of  every  department  of 
his  nature  that  he  might,  like  his  great  teacher, 
give  again.  *'  Productive  expression,"  writes 
Peabody,  **  alone  clarifies  and  sifts  the  schol- 
ar's mind.  The  movement  of  trade  is  on  its 
surface  a  mere  scramble  of  self-seek-ing  ;  but 
in  its  total  action  economic  life  is  a  vast  tidal 
process  of  production  and  distribution,  of 
multiplying  by  investing,  of  increase  through 
use.  To  hoard  one's  possessions  is  to  lose 
their  increment." 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD  3 1 

God  has  a  plan  for  the  redemption  of  the 
world.  It  is  man's  place  to  discover  it,  to 
adjust  himself  to  it,  to  find  his  place  in  it,  get 
into  the  spirit  of  its  purpose,  let  the  purpose 
get  hold  of  him,  and  lend  all  his  powers  to 
the  doing  of  God's  will.  It  is  in  this  way  and 
this  alone  that  man  can  rise  to  his  true  level 
as  a  coworker  with  God.  When  the  Apostle 
once  caught  the  conception  it  fired  his 
imagination,  swept  his  soul  into  a  new  realm, 
brought  him  to  a  new  realization  of  the 
power  of  God  and  the  dignity  of  man,  the 
grace  of  God  and  the  responsibility  of  the 
apostleship.  It  created  a  spirit  of  obedience, 
a  desire  to  serve,  a  yearning  to  impart,  and  a 
willingness  to  enter  into  the  fellowship  of  suf- 
fering, to  lay  down  life  itself  in  order  to  carry 
forward  the  purpose  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus. 
It  was  a  conception  like  this  that  carried 
Coke  and  Carey,  Morrison  and  Milne,  Mof- 
fat and  Livingstone  into  the  regions  beyond. 

One  great  task  in  extending  the  Kingdom 
of  God  is  to  get  men  to  see  the  reality  of 
things.  Perhaps  it  would  be  best  to  say — 
to  see  the  things  that  are  real.  To  realize 
God  and  to  be  reliable  witnesses.  It  was 
Ruskin  who  said,  "  The  greatest  thing  a  hu- 
man soul  ever  does  in  this  world  is  to  see 
something  and  tell  what  it  saw  in  a  plain 


32  THE  KINGDOM   OF   GOD 

way.  Hundreds  of  people  can  talk  for  one 
that  can  think ;  but  thousands  can  think  for 
one  who  can  see.  To  see  clearly  is  poetry, 
prophecy,  religion — all  in  one." 

Was  it  not  for  this  that  Jesus  called  to 
Him  the  group  of  humble  men  from  Galilee  ? 
They  were  open-eyed — men  who  were  ca- 
pable of  being  made  to  see.  Those  chil- 
dren of  nature  and  sons  of  toil  were  being 
prepared  upon  the  lake  and  under  the  blue 
sky  for  the  coming  of  the  teacher  who  was  to 
break  with  tradition — pierce  the  painted 
show  of  life  and  through  the  rent  point  them 
to  the  lesson  that  men  may  "  mistake  the 
things  that  are  seen  for  reality,  whereas  reality 
is  back  of  them  all." 

The  disciples  were  apostles  in  the  making, 
just  as  the  early  Christians  were  saints  in  the 
making.  The  greatest  miracle  is  not  with 
nature,  but  with  men.  Through  the  trans- 
forming power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  men  are 
lifted  out  of  the  mire  of  sin  and  carried  into 
the  realm  of  grace  where  they  take  their 
places  in  the  Kingdom  as  the  salt  of  the  earth 
and  the  light  of  the  world.  Jerusalem  and 
Capernaum  looked  aghast  when  fishermen 
and  tax  gatherers  became  apostles.  *'  What 
He  did  with  them  proves  what  can  be  made 
of  ordinary  men  when  they  surrender  them- 


THE  KINGDOM   OF  GOD  33 

selves  to  the  guidance  of  His  Spirit."  Is 
there  not  a  substantial  hope  here  for  the  qual- 
ifying of  men  in  every  age  for  the  apostolic 
work  of  preaching  the  Gospel  to  every  crea- 
ture? 

The  Kingdom  of  God  is  not  built  by  spiri- 
tual mechanics,  but  by  spiritual  power.  It 
does  not  deal  in  machinery,  but  with  life.  It 
does  not  exalt  institutions,  but  personality. 
Its  chief  elements  are  Fatherhood  and  sonship, 
truth  and  holiness,  life  and  love,  redemption 
from  sin,  and  salvation  for  service.  It  was  to 
be  extended  by  men  who  were  called,  *'  Fol- 
low Me  ;  "  men  who  were  taught,  **  Learn  of 
Me  ; "  and  by  men  who  were  sent,  "  As  Thou 
didst  send  Me  into  the  world,  even  so  I  sent 
them  into  the  world." 

The  disciples  were  sent  on  a  wonderful 
mission,  because  Jesus  came  on  a  wonderful 
mission.  He  was  sent  of  God,  and  so  were 
they.  What  a  thrill  it  must  have  been  to  feel 
that  their  being  sent  by  Christ  was  so  like 
the  sending  of  Jesus  by  the  Father.  The 
same  high  purpose,  the  one  impelling  motive, 
the  same  constraining  love,  were  to  be  true 
of  Master  and  disciples — it  was  to  seek  and 
to  save  that  which  was  lost.  Every  jnes- 
senger  from  God,  at  home  or  abroad,  has  a 
right  to  such  a  sending.     If  he  has  not  the 


34  THE   KINGDOM   OF  GOD 

divine  impulsion  and  the  divine  constraint  of 
love  he  has  no  right  to  go. 

The  provincialism  and  race  antipathy  of 
the  apostles  constituted  an  almost  insuperable 
barrier  to  their  carrying  the  Gospel  through 
the  Roman  Empire.  To  them  the  Gentile 
world  was  so  dark,  hopelessly  corrupt  and 
abominable,  as  to  be  "unrelieved  by  any 
spiritual  gleam."  It  is  true,  the  vision  of 
Peter  at  Joppa,  followed  by  the  experience  in 
the  house  of  Cornelius  at  Caesarea,  made  a 
profound  impression  upon  the  leader  of  the 
Apostolic  College.  So  profound  was  it,  in 
fact,  that  he  was  constrained  to  exclaim,  *'  Of 
a  truth,  I  perceive  that  God  is  no  respecter 
of  persons,  but  in  every  nation  he  that  feareth 
Him,  and  worketh  righteousness,  is  accept- 
able to  Him."  But  the  centripetal  force  of 
nationalism,  fed  by  the  undercurrent  of  Gali- 
lean life  which  had  coursed  through  their 
veins  so  long,  was  too  much  for  him  and  the 
other  members  of  the  group.  A  man  was 
needed  for  the  inauguration  of  a  world-move- 
ment who  had,  in  addition  to  mighty  faith, 
vision,  breadth  of  sympathy,  and  the  nation- 
wide, world-wide  mind  and  spirit  of  Christ. 
That  man  was  Paul. 

He  was  the  one  man  of  his,  or  any  other 
age,  who  fully  realized  a  God-given  sense  of 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD  35 

Mission,  yielded  himself  absolutely  to  Christ, 
caught  an  imperial  vision,  had  faith  com- 
mensurate with  it,  and  held  himself  steadily 
in  touch  with  his  world  task  on  the  one  hand, 
and  with  the  Gospel  as  the  world's  dynamic 
on  the  other.  With  him  the  Gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ  was  the  hope  of  man  ;  and  Christ,  the 
image  of  the  invisible  God,  the  first  born  of 
all  creation  was  in  man,  the  hope  of  glory. 

The  sense  of  mission  in  life  springs  directly 
from  a  sense  of  God.  It  is  not  remote,  but 
immediate.  Given  a  sense  of  God,  real,  near, 
vivid,  and  man  must  surrender  for  service  or 
be  untrue  to  his  convictions  and  to  himself. 
Evasion,  dishonesty  and  failure  at  this  point 
mean  spiritual  declension  and  loss  of  power 
in  all  after  life.  A  leading  preacher  remarked 
sadly,  late  in  life,  *'  Had  I  been  true  to  the 
call  which  came  in  my  early  ministry  to  go 
to  the  foreign  field,  I  should  have  been  a  bet- 
ter man." 

The  character  of  God  is  back  of  the  call  and 
becomes  a  pledge  of  moral  strength  ;  the  pres- 
ence of  God  is  in  the  consciousness  of  the 
messenger  and  makes  vivid  the  vision  for  re- 
sponsibility ;  the  will  of  God  gives  the  im- 
perative to  it  and  becomes  not  only  a  com- 
pelling force,  but  in  the  doing  of  that  will 
brings  the  joy  of  a  human  will  surrendered  to 


36  THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD 

the  divine,  and  the  power  of  a  Spirit-filled 
life. 

Isaiah  saw  the  Lord  high  and  lifted  up  and 
came  into  a  sense  of  mission.  Paul  met 
Jesus  in  the  way  and  surrendered  to  Him  who 
henceforth  was  to  be  his  Master.  He  con- 
stantly refers  to  himself  as  ''  Paul  called  to  be 
an  apostle."  As  apostle  and  slave  he  travels 
upon  the  circumference  of  a  great  circle 
whose  centre  is  Christ.  The  apostleship  was 
his  divine  credential,  he  was  a  bond-servant 
by  his  own  free  will. 

The  great  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles  realized 
God  in  Jesus  Christ.  He  recognized  the 
divine  sovereignty  and  claims  upon  his  life 
and  felt  secure  in  yielding  himself  absolutely 
to  those  claims.  Henceforth  the  impregnable 
rock  is  beneath  his  feet.  The  order  of  the 
universe  is  clear.  Human  history  and  divine 
providence  become  related.  He  announces 
that  ''the  Kingdom  of  God  is  not  meat  and 
drink,  but  righteousness,  and  peace  and  joy 
in  the  Holy  Spirit."  In  the  terms  of  that 
Kingdom,  as  exemplified  by  Jesus  Christ  and 
His  great  apostle.  Fatherhood  is  for  the  first 
time  fully  understood  and  brotherhood  re- 
ceives its  interpretation.  Man  relates  him- 
self to  God  on  the  one  hand,  receiving 
measure  upon  measure  of  grace  and  truth  ; 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD  37 

and  to  his  fellow  man  upon  the  other,  impart- 
ing freely  the  divine  gifts  which  he  has  so 
freely  received. 

Religion  is  not  simply  a  bond  between 
man  and  God,  it  is  the  force  which  impels 
man  to  seek  God  because  of  what  God  is 
and  what  man  needs.  It  is  the  soul  crying 
out  of  the  depths  of  a  social  and  spiritual 
nature  for  companionship,  for  sympathy  and 
for  love.  In  its  more  primitive  form  it  is  not 
apprehension  of  what  God  is,  or  of  what  He 
has  done  for  man.  How  can  it  be  known 
without  revelation  what  that  is  ?  It  is  only  a 
sense  of  need  ;  deep,  pervading,  and  help- 
less ;  for  man  knows  not  where  to  turn.  Is 
it  not  also  God  seeking  man?  **We  love 
Him  because  He  first  loved  us."  Con- 
sciously, or  unconsciously,  that  is  the  most 
powerful  motive  in  religion.  That  is  the 
world's  dynamic.  As  the  true  light  has 
lighted  every  man  that  cometh  into  the 
world,  so  has  His  true  love  been  constraining 
men  to  yield  themselves  to  God. 

The  central  force  of  religion  is  the  impelling 
desire  to  do  the  will  of  God.  It  is  man's  will 
moving  towards  God's  will,  yielding  itself  to 
it  and  caught  up  by  it ;  the  human  yielding 
up  to  the  divine  and  merging  itself  into  it, 
until  God's  will  is  done  in  us  and  through  us 


38  THE  KINGDOM   OF  GOD 

to  the  fulfillment  of  His  purpose,  in  and  for 
the  redemption  of  mankind,  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord.  The  motive  of  such  a  re- 
ligion as  this  is  love.  If  the  impelling  force 
is  desire  Godward,  the  constraining  force, 
which  is  infinitely  greater,  is  love  Christ- 
ward.  Not  ours  for  Him,  that  is  too  feeble, 
but  His  love  for  us.  In  this  love  lies  the  in- 
carnation with  all  its  mystery  ;  the  atonement 
with  all  its  potentiality  ;  His  death  with  all 
His  travail  for  sinful  men ;  and  the  resurrec- 
tion with  all  His  life-giving  power  and  hope. 
There  is  more  demanded  of  Christian 
leadership  in  this  generation  than  in  any 
previous  one.  The  last  century  of  missions 
was  devoted  largely  to  sapping  and  mining 
under  the  bulwarks  of  an  intrenched  heathen-^ 
ism.  Every  man  worked  with  pick  and 
spade,  in  his  own  place,  and  with  very  little 
reference  to  those  engaged  in  the  same  field. 
The  process  was  long,  laborious  and  pain- 
ful, requiring  patience  and  fortitude.  It  re- 
quired heroism  of  a  high  order,  and  developed 
individuality,  but  failed  often  to  inspire 
breadth  of  view  and  cooperation.  Condi- 
tions are  changed.  Walls  have  been  under- 
mined, and  barriers  broken  down.  Tens  of 
thousands  in  India,  China  and  other  non- 
Christian   lands   are   not   only  open  to  ap- 


THE   KINGDOM   OF  GOD  39 

proach,  but  are  detached  from  their  old 
faiths,  or  adrift  upon  the  world's  conflicting 
currents.  Skillful  piloting  and  a  sympathetic 
leadership  may  determine  for  all  time  the 
attitude  of  Oriental  nations  towards  Chris- 
tianity. 

The  transformation  which  has  taken  place 
in  the  educational  system  and  methods  of 
China,  during  the  past  twenty-five  years,  is 
the  best  illustration  of  the  marvellous  change 
in  sentiment.  In  the  city  of  Peking,  near 
our  residence,  there  stood  in  1886  a  Confucian 
temple  with  some  nine  thousand  cells  for  the 
accommodation  of  scholars  who  came  from 
every  province  of  the  empire.  It  was  here 
the  triennial  examinations  for  the  third,  or 
Master's  degree,  were  to  be  held. 

The  temple  gates  upon  the  first  morning, 
at  break  of  day,  were  crowded  with  candi- 
dates full  of  hope.  Some  of  these  had 
travelled  more  than  a  thousand  miles  on 
foot.  Several  were  over  seventy  years  of 
age,  and  had  been  competing  for  fifty  years. 
Though  unsuccessful,  they  had  been  re- 
warded by  the  Emperor  for  their  persistence 
with  the  privilege  of  wearing  a  robe  of  im- 
perial yellow.  Each  candidate  had  a  small 
bundle  of  bedding,  and  was  supplied  with 
writing  materials.     Once  within  the  cell,  the 


40  THE  KINGDOM   OF  GOD 

door  was  bolted  and  barred,  and  an  at- 
tendant was  permitted  to  pass  in  only  food 
and  tea.  Three  terms  of  three  days  and 
nights  each,  given  to  composition,  were  thus 
spent  in  their  cells,  after  which  the  candidates 
were  to  be  released. 

Our  college  Y.  M.  C.  A.  had  undertaken  to 
place  a  roll  of  Christian  literature,  neatly 
wrapped  in  red  paper,  in  the  hands  of  each 
scholar.  The  roll  included  a  Life  of  Christ, 
the  Gospel  of  Luke  and  several  tracts,  with 
an  offer  of  prizes  for  the  three  best  essays  on 
Christianity  within  six  months.  At  mid- 
night of  the  ninth  day,  at  the  boom  of  the 
great  drum,  the  gates  were  thrown  wide 
open  and  the  pent-up  stream  of  student  life 
poured  forth,  weird  and  startling  under  the 
flickering  light  of  a  hundred  torches.  Pale, 
hollow-eyed  and  weakened  by  their  vigils, 
fasting  and  hard  work,  they  pressed  forward 
feeble  and  unsteady  in  gait.  Some  fell  to  the 
ground  from  exhaustion.  Several  had  died 
during  the  nine  days  of  incarceration. 
Lictors  with  long  whips  stood  on  each  side  of 
the  exit  and  along  the  avenue,  under  orders 
to  drive  ofi  the  human  harpies  who  were 
ready  to  take  advantage  of  these  men  and 
snatch  their  bedding  from  their  shoulders. 
One  scholar  fell  to  the  ground  at  my  feet. 


THE  KINGDOM   OF  GOD  41 

Two  men  swooped  down  upon  him.  I 
sprang  forward  to  hurl  them  back  and  re- 
ceived twice  around  the  neck  the  tightening 
coil  of  the  leathern  thong  intended  for  the 
others.  These  splendid  fellows  went  through 
the  ordeal  to  secure  the  degree,  and  yet  out 
of  the  seven  thousand  candidates  it  was  cer- 
tain that  not  more  than  two  hundred  could 
attain  the  much  coveted  possession. 

All  of  this  is  a  thing  of  the  past.  One 
stroke  of  the  Vermilion  Pencil  settled  the 
transformation.  Henceforth  the  test  of 
scholarship  was^  not  to  consist  of  an  essay 
or  poem,  a  feat  of  memory  and  a  juggling  of 
words,  based  upon  the  Confucian  classics, 
but  familiarity  with  such  subjects  as  history, 
economics,  mathematics,  international  law, 
and  the  sciences  of  the  West.  Provincial  and 
national  schools  have  been  built  up  into  a 
great  system,  universities  established  and  a 
student  life  developed  characterized  by  a 
keenness  and  zest  for  the  new  and  larger 
studies,  a  college  spirit,  and  a  new  patriotism 
as  wide  as  the  empire. 

A  constructive  Christian  statesmanship  is 
needed  which  can  coordinate  and  unify  the 
working  forces  of  the  missionary  world.  At 
a  time  when  every  worker  counts  for  more 
than  ever  before,  and  when  every  dollar  in- 


42  THE  KINGDOM   OF  GOD 

vested  is  ten  times  more  potential  than  it 
was  ten  years  ago,  it  is  of  immense  impor- 
tance that  we  should  look  closely  to  that 
economy  and  efficiency  which  will  enable  one 
missionary  to  do  the  work  of  two,  and  hasten 
the  time  when  fields  so  providentially  opened 
can  be  completely  occupied. 

Leadership  at  the  home  base  is  not  less 
important  than  that  upon  the  foreign  field. 
It  may  require,  to-day,  even  more  of  toil  and 
a  greater  investment  of  faith.  It  is  indis- 
pensable if  the  evangelization  of  the  world  is 
to  be  carried  to  a  finish.  Such  leadership 
should  urge  the  devotional  study  of  the  Word 
of  God,  promote  the  spirit  of  intercession, 
seek  to  create  a  missionary  conscience,  and 
kindle  a  passion  for  souls.  Added  to  these 
must  be  the  creation  of  a  missionary  pastor- 
ate, the  securing  of  systematic  and  propor- 
tionate giving,  the  search  for  young  men  and 
women  in  our  institutions  who  will  respond  to 
the  call  for  service,  and  the  marshalling  of  all 
the  forces  of  the  Church  under  the  leadership 
of  the  Spirit  of  God,  in  one  supreme  effort  to 
secure,  at  the  earliest  possible  day,  the  preach- 
ing of  the  Gospel  to  every  creature.  Such  a 
program  is  no  child's  play.  It  becomes,  at 
once,  a  mighty  test  of  faith  and  a  demand  for 
statesmanship  of  the  highest  order. 


THE   KINGDOM   OF  GOD  43 

A  review  of  the  world  field  compels  the 
conviction  that  the  time  is  ripe  for  a  great 
advance.  The  Holy  Spirit  has  been  at  work 
in  many  lands,  blessed  the  seed  which  has 
been  sown,  and  ripened  the  fields  to  the 
harvest.  In  China,  in  India,  and  in  large 
sections  of  Africa,  where  dense  populations 
are  massed,  the  missionary  body  is  over- 
whelmed with  the  almost  countless  villages 
asking  for  Christian  teachers  and  evangelists. 
The  urgency  of  the  situation  cannot  be  over- 
estimated. Some  of  the  greatest  conquests 
of  the  Cross  have  been  made  during  the  past 
ten  years,  but  greater  ones  are  within  our 
grasp.  It  is  not  now  a  question  of  the  atti- 
tude of  the  non-Christian  nations,  but  of 
Christendom.  They  are  turning  to  Christ  as 
their  only  hope.  We  are  in  danger  of  sub- 
stituting modern  civilization  for  vital  Chris- 
tianity, and  of  shifting  the  basis  of  faith  from 
the  sure  foundations  to  the  quicksands  of  ex- 
pediency and  doubt. 

The  Apostolic  Church  wrought  marvels 
towards  the  evangelization  of  the  world  dur- 
ing the  first  century  of  missionary  effort 
without  machinery  and  without  material  re- 
sources. The  secret  of  it  all  lay  in  its  faith, 
in  its  leadership  and  in  its  passion.  Its  faith 
was  born  of  God  in  the  School  of  Prayer,  its 


44  THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD 

leadership  was  that  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and 
its  missionary  passion  was  inspired  by  the 
conscious  presence  of  the  living  Christ.  It 
had  found  the  missionary  dynamic. 

To  win  the  world  of  to-day,  plans  must  be 
laid  which  are  commensurate  with  the  task. 
The  dimensions  of  that  task,  its  demands  and 
responsibilities,  have  been  immensely  in- 
creased during  the  past  decade.  The  emer- 
gence of  nationalistic  aspirations  ;  the  action 
and  reaction  of  international  forces ;  the 
recrudescence  of  religious  faiths ;  the  unrest 
and  detachment  of  large  populations ;  the 
rapid  growth  of  economic  and  social  ques- 
tions ;  and  the  openness  to  approach  of  stu- 
dents and  faculties  in  the  world's  centres  of 
learning,  are  only  a  few  of  the  factors  which 
demand  a  recasting  of  missionary  policies. 
Any  one  of  these  is  sufficient  for  a  lifetime 
study.  But  to  grasp  them  as  a  whole,  unify 
the  currents  and  forces  at  work,  and  bring 
them  under  the  influence  of  the  Gospel  is  a 
feat  which  demands  the  most  consummate 
skill  and  commanding  generalship. 

The  racial  problems  of  the  age  are  more 
acute  than  at  any  time  in  the  history  of  the 
world.  The  growth  of  population,  of  com- 
merce, of  economic  relations,  and  of  nation- 
alism, has  led  to  a  jostling  of  peoples,  a  ne- 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD  45 

cessity  for  readjustment,  and  a  failure  to 
recognize  the  rights  of  the  weaker.  It  is 
here  that  we  need  to  have  the  cosmopoHtan 
mind  and  spirit  of  Christ,  and  to  practice 
such  sympathy  and  sense  of  brotherhood  as 
shall  help  men  to  realize  that  the  Kingdom 
of  God  knows  neither  racial  nor  national  lines, 
but  makes  the  gift  of  God  free  to  every  man. 

A  leadership  is  needed  which  will,  under  a 
higher  leadership,  be  on  the  alert  to  study 
the  outstanding  difficulties  of  every  situation 
and  to  throw  the  entire  force  of  its  influence 
into  the  place  of  greatest  need.  To  do  this 
there  must  be  open-mindedness,  heroic  cour- 
age, a  spirit  of  self-abandon,  and  a  masterful 
grasp  of  the  largest  questions,  moral,  social 
and  religious — a  leadership  full  of  faith  and 
of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Jesus  loved  the  world.  He  taught  that  it 
should  be  used,  but  not  abused.  He  loved 
it  because  He  made  it.  He  lived  and  worked 
in  it.  He  found  His  disciples  there.  He  did 
not  take  them  out  of  the  world,  but  held  them 
in  it,  and  appointed  them  to  their  task.  He 
withdrew  temporarily  from  the  outer  and 
visible  manifestation  of  the  world,  that  He 
might  return  to  it  as  it  were  from  the  inner 
and  invisible,  and  be  everywhere  and  with 
every  man,  if  every  man  would  only  permit 


46  THE   KINGDOM   OF   GOD 

It  tremendously  emphasized  the  worth  of 
a  soul  when  Jesus  said,  *'  What  does  it  profit 
a  man  if  he  gain  the  whole  world  and  lose 
his  own  soul.  Or  what  will  a  man  give  in 
exchange  for  his  soul  ?  "  Here  is  valuation 
measured  by  the  infinite.  Christ  died  for  it. 
And  yet  men  will  put  everything  upon  the 
block  and  under  the  hammer — manhood, 
faith,  morals,  in  the  present,  and  mortgage 
the  future — for  the  sake  of  the  world.  When 
men  do  that  they  barter  the  higher  for  the 
lower  ;  their  birthright  for  a  mess  of  pottage. 
The  higher  is  lost,  and  the  lower  shrivels 
like  an  autumn  leaf,  or  is  consumed  until  not 
a  vestige  remains  upon  which  to  build  a  spir- 
itual Kingdom  or  an  immortal  character. 

The  ten  commandments  are  not  annulled 
by  the  moral  law  of  the  Kingdom  which 
Jesus  came  to  establish,  as  some  would  have 
men  think.  His  moral  law  only  supersedes 
"  by  including  them  in  a  greater,  deeper  and 
more  positive  whole."  The  commandments 
became,  with  traditionalism,  a  dead  letter. 
Through  Jesus'  life  more  than  in  His  teach- 
ing, they  have  become  instinct  with  a  per- 
sonal significance.  "The  moral  law  of  the 
new  Kingdom  is  a  law,"  says  Bishop  Gore, 
**  which  recognized  and  accepted  by  the  indi- 
vidual conscience  is  to  be  applied  in  order  to 


THE   KINGDOM   OF  GOD  47 

establish  a  new  social  order."  It  could  only 
do  this  through  a  personality  sufficiently 
powerful  to  vivify  it.  This  personality  be- 
longed to  Jesus.  **  The  law  was  given  by 
Moses,  but  grace  and  truth  came  by  Jesus 
Christ."  **  The  law  was  given  that  men 
might  seek  grace,"  says  Augustine,  and  adds 
"  grace  was  given  that  the  law  might  be  ful- 
filled." Men  would  not  seek  grace.  So 
Christ  had  to  come  seeking  them  with  grace 
streaming  from  heaven  through  His  sacri- 
ficial love.  Thus  was  the  law  fulfilled,  for 
love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law.  Get  men 
to  see  and  feel  this,  and  you  get  them  to  ac- 
cept the  commandments  with  joy  because 
they  accept  Christ. 

The  world  does  not  need  less  of  God,  but 
more  of  a  sense  of  the  divine  Fatherhood.  It 
is  that  Fatherhood,  in  and  through  Himself, 
Jesus  came  to  manifest  unto  the  world.  It 
was  not  a  declaration,  but  a  manifestation  ; 
not  so  much  a  message  even,  as  a  life.  Be- 
lief in  the  existence  of  one  God  was,  for  Israel, 
an  immense  advance  upon  a  belief  in  many 
gods.  But  the  Jewish  idea  of  one  God  as 
Father  was  nationalistic,  rather  than  personal. 
*'  I  am  a  Father  to  Israel,  and  Ephraim  is  my 
first  born." 

A  nationalistic  conception  of  God  is  not 


48  THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD 

sufficient  to  satisfy  the  craving  of  the  indi- 
vidual soul  for  companionship  ;  and  a  mere 
theistic  faith,  however  high  and  noble,  can- 
not sustain  moral  character  and  quicken  pur- 
pose into  loving  obedience  and  a  life  of  joy- 
ful fellowship.  There  must  be  a  revelation 
of  God  as  Father  whose  infinite  nearness, 
tenderness  and  love  can  be  realized  in  human 
experience.  That  revelation  has  come  in 
Jesus  Christ,  in  order  that  through  Him  we 
may  know  the  Father,  and  knowing  the 
Father  thus  revealed  we  come  to  know  Jesus 
Christ  whom  He  has  sent. 

The  cry  of  the  human  heart  for  God  is  as 
old  as  humanity,  and  will  not  be  stifled.  It 
was  the  patriarch  Job  in  the  earliest  cen- 
turies who  exclaimed,  "  Oh,  that  I  knew 
where  I  might  find  Him !  that  I  might 
come  even  to  His  seat.  ...  I  would 
know  the  words  which  He  would  answer  me, 
and  understand  what  He  would  say  unto 
me."  His  was  a  cry  out  of  the  night,  a  cry 
out  of  the  soul  depths  for  light  and  for  God. 

"  If  God  had  not  said,  *  Blessed  are  those 
that  hunger,'  I  know  not  what  could  keep 
weak  Christians  from  sinking  in  despair. 
Many  times  all  I  can  do  is  to  complain  that 
I  want  Him,  and  wish  to  recover  Him,"  said 
Bishop  Hall. 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD  49 

The  testimony  of  an  African  chief  in  the 
heart  of  the  Dark  Continent  echoes  the  same 
sentiment.  It  was  late  in  the  afternoon.  Our 
day's  march  brought  us  to  his  village.  It 
stood  upon  a  high  hill  which  overlooked 
broad  ribbons  of  tropical  forest,  enclosing  a 
stream  of  silver  that  wound  itself  in  and  out 
of  the  green,  and  beyond  these  the  golden 
veldt  with  its  spreading  plains  which  seemed 
to  reach  into  the  beyond  as  it  pushed  against 
the  sky-line  of  purple  clouds.  It  was  a  scene 
of  entrancing  beauty.  "  Do  you  believe  there 
is  a  God?  "  I  asked.  **  Oh,  yes,"  he  replied, 
**  there  is  not  a  man  among  us  who  does  not 
believe  in  Nzambe.  He  created  our  fore- 
fathers and  gave  us  these  lands."  ''Then 
why  do  you  not  worship  Him?"  With  a 
look  of  sadness  the  chief  of  a  great  people 
slowly  answered,  **  He  is  not  here.  He  has 
taken  Himself  away.  We  do  not  know  where 
He  has  gone.  To  whom  then  are  we  to  ofTer 
our  prayers  ?  We  want  Him,  but  if  we  pray 
how  do  we  know  that  He  hears  us  ?  " 

A  great  life  has  never  been  lived  without 
a  vision,  nor  has  an  enterprise  of  world  di- 
mensions ever  been  launched  in  the  absence 
of  one.  It  is  not  the  soul  taking  the  measure 
of  itself ;  that  might  prove  to  be  an  inhibition 
of  one's  powers — a  consciousness  of  limita- 


50  THE   KINGDOM  OF  GOD 

tions  that  would  prove  fatal.  It  is  seeking 
rather  to  measure  its  God-appointed  task, 
and  what  task  is  too  great  for  a  soul  that 
finds  a  peculiar  joy  in  attempting  the  im- 
possible I 

Does  not  our  power  to  see  stir  our  power 
to  do  ?  In  weak  lives  it  is  mere  imagination, 
and  stimulates  to  the  point  of  desire  only.  In 
strong  lives  this  power  to  see  is  vision.  De- 
sire grows  swiftly  into  purpose,  and  where 
there  is  large  potentiality  in  seeing,  there 
will  be  corresponding  power  in  the  doing. 
The  actual  is  not  far  off,  when  the  gift  to  see 
is  near. 

The  use  of  the  word  vision  may  be  over- 
done in  our  day,  but  the  fact  itself  cannot  be 
ignored.  There  has  been  too  much  of  it  in 
God's  dealing  with  men  to  ignore  it.  Moses 
and  the  burning  bush  ;  Paul  and  the  man  of 
Macedonia  ;  Wesley  and  his  world-parish  ; 
are  not  these  men  whose  eyes  were  made  to 
see  the  possibilities  of  God's  Kingdom  ? 

It  is  well  for  a  man  if  vision  comes  early, 
for  it  is  given  to  old  men  to  dream  dreams  ; 
but  if  not  early,  let  it  come  late.  The  age  of 
the  soul  is  not  measured  by  time,  but  rather 
by  its  ideals.  Whether  early  or  late,  these 
must  ever  be  lifted  up  and  beyond  us,  never 
to  be  reached,  but  never  to  be  lost  sight  of. 


THE   KINGDOM   OF  GOD  5 1 

Better  loss  of  life  itself  than  loss  of  one's 
ideals. 

Is  it  not  Maeterlink  who  says,  "  Let  us  re- 
joice in  regions  higher  than  the  little  truths 
that  our  eyes  can  seize  "  ?  There  are  such 
regions.  They  lie  back  there  with  God, 
awaiting  the  gift  to  see.  Our  train  dragged 
itself  along  the  heavy  grade  in  its  journey 
across  the  continent.  Sand-dunes  and  sage- 
brush formed  the  background  of  the  sombre 
picture.  Suddenly  the  distant  Sierras  lifted 
themselves,  sunlit  and  snow-capped,  into  the 
blue.  The  sense  of  height,  of  purity,  of 
power,  and  shall  I  say  of  God,  came  over  us. 
It  was  like  the  thrill  that  comes  to  the  soul 
from  the  discovery  of  larger  truths,  of  higher 
ideals,  and  of  the  revelation  of  God  Himself. 
It  is  this  which  has  come,  at  home  and 
abroad,  into  many  a  missionary  life  with  its 
long  stretches  of  waiting,  and  years  of  dull 
plodding.  Suddenly  the  sky-line  breaks. 
The  valleys  are  flooded  with  light,  the  peaks 
are  aglow  with  hope,  and  God  is  every- 
where. 

**  Perhaps  the  earliest  requisite  of  an  efTect- 
ive  life  is  a  vision."  ^  If  that  be  true,  vision 
must  be  followed  by  obedience.  Prompt  and 
unquestioning  obedience  in  the  extension  of 

*  The  Rt.  Rev.  Chas.  H.  Brent,  "  Adventure  for  God,"  p.  2. 


52  THE  KINGDOM   OF  GOD 

God's  Kingdom  must  follow  the  revelation 
of  God's  will.  The  record  is  that  the  Apostle 
to  the  Gentiles  was  not  disobedient  to  the 
heavenly  vision.  Cost  what  it  might,  he  was 
ready  to  pay  the  price  when  once  the  will  of 
God  was  made  known.  He  was  no  man  to 
drift.  The  fires  of  his  soul  burned  too  in- 
tensely for  that,  but  it  was  necessary  there 
should  be  a  mighty  awakening  to  real  con- 
ditions and  divine  demands,  a  confronting  of 
the  human  by  the  divine  spirit,  before  he 
could  consecrate  all  his  masterful  energies  to 
Christ. 

Many  a  man  does  drift  with  the  sleepy 
current,  unmindful  of  life's  perils  or  duties, 
until  a  bend  in  the  stream  comes.  He  is 
suddenly  swept  into  troubled  waters,  high 
banks  frown  upon  him  and  he  is  stirred  to 
action.  Dangerous  reefs  are  about  him,  but 
beyond  are  opening  vistas  of  beauty  and  of 
glory.  He  awakes  to  a  sense  of  struggle,  of 
conscious  manhood  and  of  deepened  respon- 
sibility. He  bends  to  his  oars  until  his  litde 
craft  becomes  instinct  with  life ;  he  leaps  to 
the  shore  ;  he  has  become  a  man  with  a 
man's  work ;  the  consciousness  of  power  and 
of  mission  is  upon  him. 

Isaiah  drifted  upon  the  easy  optimism  of 
his   day   until   the   Lord   as  One  high  and 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD  53 

lifted  up,  and  yet  terribly  near,  confronted 
him  in  the  temple.  From  that  day  he  was 
the  prophet  with  an  evangel.  Austin  Flint,  Jr., 
the  brilliant  physiologist,  son  of  a  great  physi- 
cian, wasted  his  life,  unconscious  of  his 
magnificent  powers,  until  rudely  awakened 
by  a  faithful  friend  to  both  duty  and  respon- 
sibility. It  took  Stanley's  appeal  for  Uganda 
and  a  group  of  devoted  boys,  some  of  whom 
became  martyrs,  to  bring  Mackay,  the  engi- 
neer missionary,  to  a  full  realization  of  the 
tremendous  possibilities  of  missionary  work. 
But  the  vision  of  a  redeemed  Baganda,  the 
masterful  efTorts  of  a  God-sent  man,  the  thrill 
of  the  bigness  of  a  task  equal  to  his  powers, 
and  faith  that  he  would  be  given  power 
equal  to  the  task,  won  for  Christ  one  of  the 
brightest  jewels  in  the  redemption  of  Africa's 
millions. 

The  revelation  of  the  Fatherhood  of  God 
by  Jesus  Christ  not  only  gives  men  a  true 
conception  of  divine  Fatherhood,  but  a  right 
understanding  of  their  own,  in  terms  of  the 
highest  spiritual  potentiality.  Is  there  not 
suggested  in  the  Scriptures  such  a  thing  as 
a  yearning  for  the  birth  of  a  soul  which  gives 
the  sense  of  spiritual  Fatherhood ?  Paul  seems 
to  have  such  a  sense  when  he  says  to  the 
Corinthians,  **  For  though  ye  have  ten  thou- 


54  THE   KINGDOM   OF  GOD 

sand  instructors  in  Christ,  yet  have  ye  not 
many  fathers  :  for  in  Christ  Jesus  I  have  be- 
gotten you  through  the  Gospel." 

The  Apostle  refers  to  it  again  in  his  letter 
to  Philemon  vi^hen  he  makes  his  plea  in  be- 
half of  a  runaway  slave,  converted  under  his 
ministry — "  I  beseech  thee  for  my  son  Ones- 
imus,  whom  I  have  begotten  in  my  bonds." 
He  yearns  over  his  spiritual  offspring.  It  is 
a  gUmpse  of  that  travail  for  lost  men  upon 
the  part  of  great  souls  who  have  come  to  a 
true  interpretation  of  the  deep  and  inner 
meaning  of  spiritual  Fatherhood. 

Does  this  not  find  a  measure  of  expression 
in  the  aching  heart  of  Henry  Martyn  in 
Calcutta  when  he  says :  "I  was  much  bur- 
dened with  the  consciousness  of  blood  guilti- 
ness ;  and  though  I  cannot  doubt  of  my 
pardon  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  how  dreadful 
the  reflection  that  any  should  perish  that 
might  have  been  saved  by  my  exertions  ! " 
Is  it  not  in  the  strong  crying  and  tears  of 
David  Brainerd  as  he  bows  his  knees  upon 
the  snow  beneath  the  New  England  pines 
and  makes  intercession  for  his  beloved 
Indians  ? 

Our  indebtednes  to  the  Hebrew  race  is  not 
based  alone  upon  the  preservation  of  the  his- 
toric idea,   and  fact,  of  the  existence  of  the 


THE  KINGDOM   OF  GOD  55 

one  true  and  living  God,  supreme  in  nature 
and  sovereign  among  men.  There  is  an- 
other truth,  greater  and  more  insistent,  the 
rejection  and  loss  of  which  has  been  the 
tragedy  of  their  race  : — the  presence  of  God 
in  Jesus  Christ  as  Saviour,  dealing  person- 
ally with  man,  and  entering  by  faith  into  his 
personal  consciousness.  While  other  faiths 
may,  with  Christianity,  hold  the  Deity  as 
existent  in  the  past,  Christianity  alone  af- 
firms that  its  Lord  and  Saviour  lives  in  the 
present,  as  the  Light  of  the  World,  and  re- 
veals Himself  not  by  reflected  light,  but  in 
person  to  the  personal  consciousness  of  every 
man  who  believes.  In  every  successive  gen- 
eration, therefore,  the  miracle  of  revelation 
is  being  repeated,  not  through  the  written 
word  by  inspired  men,  but  on  the  tablets  of 
human  hearts  by  the  Holy  Spirit. 

**  Do  not  talk  to  me,"  said  Coleridge,  **  of 
the  evidences  of  Christianity.  Try  it.  It 
has  been  eighteen  hundred  years  in  exist- 
ence, and  nobody  who  has  tried  it  on  its 
own  terms  has  ever  challenged  it  as  a  fail- 
ure." *'  Try  it,"  exclaims  the  chemist  to  his 
laboratory  assistant  who  suggests  the  possi- 
bilities of  a  new  combination.  **  Try  it," 
urges  the  professor  of  mathematics  w^hen 
his  student   proposes  a  new  demonstration 


56  THE   KINGDOM   OF  GOD 

of  a  theorem.  Will  any  man  challenge  the 
scientific  basis  of  such  tests  ?  Who  then 
will  have  the  temerity  to  object  to  the 
Psalmist  when  he  says,  **  O  taste  and  see 
that  the  Lord  is  good."  Who  shall  cast  a 
doubt  upon  the  soundness  of  the  Apostle's 
assurance,  and  ten  thousand  like  him,  who 
has  put  Jesus  Christ  to  the  test  and  exclaims 
— **  I  know  whom  I  have  believed." 

Ours  is  an  age  in  which  the  growth  and 
power  of  the  sentiment  of  the  common  peo- 
ple is  being  recognized  as  never  before. 
Such  a  sentiment  will  more  and  more  be 
based  upon  the  consciousness  of  a  world 
brotherhood.  The  consciousness  is  already 
here,  and  in  the  presence  of  the  greatest  war 
of  history,  an  international  conscience  is  be- 
ing awakened.  No  man  liveth  unto  him- 
self. We  share  in  the  sin,  the  shame  and  in 
the  consequences  of  the  tragedy.  In  other 
words,  the  recognition  of  a  true  nationalism 
is  coming,  in  which  fundamental  unities  are 
emerging  and  international  obligations  will 
be  adequately  emphasized.  Back  of  all  this 
is  a  recognition  of  the  fact  that  **  humanity 
is  broader  than  nationality,"  and  brother- 
hood deeper  than  citizenship. 

Ours  is  a  century  which  while  it  empha- 
sizes doctrine  rather  than  dogma,  and  catho- 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD  57 

licity  rather  than  creed,  will  not  lose  sight  of 
essential  truth.  We  are  entering  an  age  in 
which  the  true  symphony  will  be  a  mind  in 
sympathy  with  the  truth,  a  heart  attuned  to 
the  welfare  of  humanity,  and  a  soul  in  har- 
mony with  the  will  of  God.  We  live  in  an  age 
of  unparallelled  opportunity.  Its  interpreta- 
tion is  in  terms  of  unprecedented  reponsibil- 
ity.  The  forces  that  make  for  good,  on  the 
one  hand,  are  building  individual  life  and 
national  destiny  into  new  forms  and  a  new 
order.  The  forces  that  make  for  evil,  on  the 
other,  are  threatening  the  very  foundations 
of  society  and  of  our  civilization.  We  are 
stirred  by  the  one ;  we  are  solemnized  by  the 
other.  The  sense  of  mission  and  of  oppor- 
tunity brings  us  to  our  feet  and  impels  to 
action.  The  sense  of  peril  and  of  responsi- 
bility forces  us  to  our  knees  and  to  prayer. 

There  is  in  it  all  a  reminder  of  an  Alpine 
experience  of  George  Adam  Smith.  With 
great  difficulty  he  had  climbed  the  Weiss- 
horn  overhanging  the  Zermatt  valley.  Only 
a  few  feet  remained.  With  a  sense  of  ex- 
hilaration which  the  successful  ascent  of  such 
heights  alone  can  give,  he  made  a  final  and 
almost  superhuman  effort  and  sprang  upon 
the  pinnacle.  There  was  nothing  but  the 
blue  dome  of  heaven  above,  and   the  clear 


58  THE  KINGDOM   OF  GOD 

attenuated  ether  about  him.  It  was  a  mo- 
ment of  supreme  exultation,  for  the  shoulders 
of  the  gigantic  mountain  range  lay  at  his 
feet ;  but  his  faithful  guide  shouted,  "  Upon 
your  knees,  sir,  upon  your  knees !  It  is 
perilous  to  stand  there  ;  you  are  safe  only 
upon  your  knees." 

An  almost  superhuman  task  lies  before  us. 
We  must  get  its  true  perspective.  The  world 
must  be  won  for  Christ — the  world  of  mate- 
rial forces  and  of  men.  With  Him  there  is 
no  secular.  It  is  all  religious.  It  is  all 
the  Kingdom  of  our  God.  Let  us  all  have 
a  share  in  it.  We  have  reverently  prayed, 
"Thy  Kingdom  Come,"  and  it  does  come 
silently,  but  with  power.  Fields  of  activity 
lie  about  us  on  every  side.  Possibilities  of 
conquest  and  achievement  in  nature  and  in 
grace  are  at  our  feet  and  stretch  beyond  the 
horizon.  A  sense  of  exhilaration  rather  than 
of  mission  comes  over  us.  Can  we  stand 
here?  It  is  perilous.  We  need  to  pray  a 
prayer  that  has  infinite  reach  to  it — the 
prayer  that  to  our  personality  be  added  the 
mighty  plus  of  another  Personality.  It  is 
Christ  we  supremely  need,  for  *'  He  is  God  : 
God  breaking  out  of  the  spiritual  realm  and 
descending  from  the  height  of  His  greatness." 
He  is  God  descending  into  the  valley  of  suf- 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD  59 

fering  and  of  death  to  lead  us  to  the  rescue 
of  lost  and  sinful  men.  Without  Him  our 
civilization,  our  mission  and  our  Christianity 
will  utterly  fail.  With  Him  victory  is  as- 
sured for  with  His  coming,  into  your  life 
and  mine,  there  comes  the  Kingdom  of  God. 


LECTURE  II 

THE  HOLY  SPIRIT : 
GOD  SEEKING  MAN 


LECTURE  II 

THE  HOLY  SPIRIT :  GOD  SEEKING 

MAN 

GOD  through  His  Spirit  is  searching 
for  men.  He  needs  men  to  whom 
He  can  impart  His  truth,  and  who 
can  be  trusted  to  deUver  His  message  in 
terms  of  sympathy  and  power.  This  does 
not  mean  that  God  depends  upon  the  wisdom 
of  man,  or  the  power  of  man.  He  distinctly 
says  that  not  many  wise  are  chosen,  and  that 
it  is  not  by  might  nor  by  power.  He  seeks 
those  who  are  willing  and  have  capacity  for 
faith.  The  difference  in  faith  between  men 
is  the  difference  between  a  telescope  with  a 
six  inch  objective  and  one  of  sixty  in  power 
to  search  the  heavens  and  to  bring  forth  orbs 
of  light  from  the  dark  and  fathomless  recesses 
of  the  sky.  If  the  Spirit  of  God  sought  such 
men  as  Elijah  and  Paul,  Luther  and  Wesley, 
why  should  not  we,  in  our  endeavour  to  win 
the  world,  deliberately  ally  ourselves  with  the 
Spirit  in  the  search  for  those  who  are  seeking 
God,  who  are  waiting  for  Him  and  are  ready 
to  do  His  will.  It  is  those  who  are  open  to 
63 


64  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT 

the  Spirit — those  who  can  become  spirit-filled 
— who  will  best  pioneer  the  way  of  the  King- 
dom for  generations  to  come. 

"  The  history  of  speculative  philosophy 
shows  one  long  search  of  man  after  God ;  the 
revelation  of  the  Bible  shows  one  long  search 
of  God  for  man.  God's  first  question  to  man 
with  which  begins  the  wonderful  story  of  His 
concern  for  the  race  is,  *  Where  art  thou  ? '  "  ^ 

The  Holy  Spirit  is  a  Person  ;  the  creative 
energy  of  the  universe,  the  executive  of  the 
Godhead.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  the  great 
pioneer  of  missions.  He  it  is  who  has  out- 
lined the  missionary  program,  given  direc- 
tion to  it,  and  put  meaning  into  it.  He 
searches  for  men  who  may  become  the  de- 
pository for  God's  thought  and  instruments 
of  God's  power.  He  expresses  Himself 
through  men,  and  delivers  Himself  upon  the 
individual  and  upon  the  race. 

The  Holy  Spirit  administers  the  Kingdom, 
carries  forward  the  divine  purpose,  times 
events,  brings  men  together  through  wonder- 
ful providences,  and  prepares  men,  peoples 
and  nations  for  the  Gospel.  The  Holy  Spirit 
not  only  accompanies  the  missionary,  but 
precedes   him.     The   Karens  were  a  people 

^  Bishop  E.  R.  Hendrix,  "  The  Personality  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,"  p.  5. 


GOD  SEEKING  MAN  65 

providentially  prepared  for  the  missionary  ; 
the  Hawaiians  were  in  the  act  of  abolishing 
the  tabu  and  of  destroying  their  fetishes  when 
the  first  missionaries  landed ;  the  Koreans 
are  an  outstanding  illustration  of  a  nation 
wrought  upon  by  the  Holy  Spirit  from  the 
opening  of  the  Hermit  Kingdom  to  missions 
to  the  day  of  the  great  revival.  Joseph 
Neesima,  when  only  a  lad,  was  found  of  God 
in  his  home  in  Japan,  while  Samuel  Crowther 
was  led,  by  a  series  of  wonderful  providences, 
out  of  slavery  and  witchcraft  into  a  ministry 
of  service  which  demonstrated  the  intelligent, 
purposeful  leadings  of  the  Spirit  of  God. 

It  was  the  Holy  Spirit  who  prepared  the 
way  and  timed  the  hour  for  Pentecost — ''  the 
real  starting  point  of  Christianity."  He 
brought  Peter  and  Cornelius  together — when 
Jew  and  Gentile  were  as  far  apart  as  the 
poles  ;  set  the  feet  of  Philip  the  evangelist  in 
the  way  of  the  Ethiopian  enquirer ;  and 
opened  the  heart  of  Lydia  at  Philippi  to 
attend  unto  the  things  which  were  spoken  of 
Paul. 

The  coming  of  the  Holy  Spirit  was  to  the 
apostles  and  to  the  Church  a  guarantee  of 
the   ultimate   triumph    of  the  Gospel  which 
had  been  committed  to  them.     In  the  final 
struggle  with  nature  and  evil  spirits  a  divine 


66  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT 

energy  was  needed  concentrated  in  a  divine 
person  and  yet  transcending  all  the  limitations 
of  incarnate  life.  It  was  the  Paraclete  of 
whom  Jesus  spoke  when  He  said :  "  But 
when  the  Comforter  is  come,  whom  I  will 
send  unto  you  from  the  Father,  even  the 
Spirit  of  truth,  who  proceedeth  from  the 
Father,  He  shall  testify  of  Me." 

The  Holy  Spirit  is  immanent  among  men. 
He  is  the  source  of  life,  of  power  and  the 
transmitter  of  God's  gifts.  The  incarnation 
of  Jesus,  of  which  He  was  the  immediate 
agent,  has  demonstrated  how  the  Holy  Spirit 
works  with  and  in  behalf  of  the  Son,  and  has 
found  expression  in  a  marvellous  way  through 
Him,  and  through  those  who  believe  in  Him. 
It  was  through  the  Holy  Spirit  that  Jesus 
received  His  divine  credentials  at  baptism  ; 
was  led  in  the  Spirit  into  the  wilderness  to  be 
tempted  ;  returned  victorious  by  the  power 
of  the  Spirit ;  began  His  ministry  with  the 
anointing  of  the  Spirit,  gave  commandments 
to  His  disciples  through  Him,  designated 
Him  as  the  Promise  of  the  Father  and  pledged 
the  enduement  of  power  to  the  apostles  when 
the  descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit  should  be  made. 
This  pledge  was  fulfilled  upon  the  day  of 
Pentecost,  ten  days  subsequently. 

The  Holy  Spirit  is  therefore  no  mere  efflu- 


GOD  SEEKING  MAN  67 

ence.  His  personality  is  a  reality.  He  is 
God  realized  and  interpreted,  not  in  terms 
of  the  flesh,  but  in  terms  of  the  Spirit.  He 
is  Christ,  in  and  through  whom  the  love  of 
God,  the  truth  of  God,  and  the  life-giving 
power  of  the  eternal  God  have  been  mani- 
fested. He  is  the  third  person  of  the  God- 
head, very  and  eternal  God. 

"  The  Holy  Spirit  is  distinctly  and  exclu- 
sively the  messenger  and  representative  of 
the  Son,  and  undertakes  nothing  apart  from 
Him,  or  outside  of  the  limits  of  His  media- 
torial life  and  work.  He  is  at  one  with  the 
Son  as  the  Son  is  with  the  Father,  and  as 
entirely  given  to  do  the  will  of  Him  that  sent 
Him  as  is  the  Son.  '  He  shall  not  speak  of 
Himself,'  said  Christ ;  '  but  whatsoever  He 
shall  hear,  that  shall  He  speak.  .  .  .  He 
shall  glorify  Me :  for  He  shall  receive  of 
Mine,  and  shall  show  it  unto  you.'  The 
vague  conception  of  a  benignant  spiritual 
influence  operating  upon  the  hearts  of  men, 
as  the  fitful  breezes  of  summer  move  upon 
their  oppressed  and  languid  frames,  without 
distinct  purpose  or  method,  is  thoroughly 
disposed  of  by  this  sharply  defined  commis- 
sion to  personal  service  in  exclusive  relation 
to  the  purpose  and  work  of  the  Son  of  God."  * 

^  Bishop  Alpheus  W.  Wilson,  «  The  Witnesses  to  Christ,"  p.  178. 


68  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT 

The  Holy  Spirit  has  it  in  His  power  not 
only  to  inspire  men,  to  give  and  to  record  a 
revelation  of  God,  but  to  strengthen  and 
energize  men  for  the  constructive  work  of 
organization  and  leadership  in  the  extension 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  If  the  Spirit  of  God 
could  bestow  upon  Abraham  the  gift  of  faith, 
upon  Moses  the  gift  of  leadership,  upon  Paul 
the  gift  of  interpreting  the  mind  of  Christ  and 
of  pioneering  the  way  for  the  Gospel,  He 
has  equally  called  such  men  as  Swartz  and 
Duff  in  India,  Griffith  John  and  Hudson 
Taylor  in  China,  and  Bishop  Honda  of 
Japan. 

The  missionary  program  is  not  yet  com- 
plete. Why  not  search  for  and  expect,  pray 
and  diligently  work  for  the  finding  and  the 
development  of  faithful  and  courageous  men 
and  women  who  shall  do  great  exploits  for 
their  God  ? 

Every  great  movement,  human  or  divine, 
if  carried  to  completion,  must  have  adequate 
leadership.  The  best  of  human  plans  may 
fail  from  the  lack  of  a  great  leader.  There 
can  be  no  failure  in  God's  plan.  The  Holy 
Spirit  is  the  divinely  appointed  leader  in  the 
world's  evangelization.  His  leadership  is 
adequate.  He  is  untrammelled  in  this  His 
dispensation,  save   by   the  unbelief  of  man. 


GOD  SEEKING  MAN  69 

The  limitations  that  were  upon  Jesus  by- 
virtue  of  His  humanity  are  removed  in  the 
case  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  He  is  not  confined 
to  any  geographical  area,  but  can  pioneer 
the  way  in  every  land.  He  can  be  personally 
present,  draw  the  bolts  of  every  door,  strike 
the  shackles  from  every  limb,  make  personal 
intercession  for  every  saint  and  sinner,  inter- 
pret God's  thought  to  every  seeker  after 
truth,  and  bear  witness  with  every  child  of 
God  that  Jesus  is  able  to  save,  has  saved,  and 
does  now  save  from  sin  unto  the  power  of  an 
endless  life. 

The  heroine  of  South  Africa,  Mrs.  Robert 
MofTat,  had  remarkable  insight  into  the 
method  of  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  A  dili- 
gent student  of  the  Scriptures  and  a  close  ob- 
server of  men,  she  reached  the  conclusion 
that  spiritual  processes  were  at  work  beneath 
the  surface  of  human  life,  unseen  and  un- 
realized even  in  the  remote  places  of  the 
earth. 

**  We  have  solid  reason  to  believe,"  she 
writes  in  a  letter,  "  that  there  are  many  per- 
sons who  are  the  subjects  of  an  abiding  con- 
viction of  their  position  as  sinners  before  God, 
and  are  in  the  constant  and  diligent  use  of 
the  means  of  grace,  which  we  doubt  not  will 
be   effectual   through   the   Spirit  in  leading 


70  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT 

them  to  the  Saviour  of  sinners.  The  Spirit 
of  God  has  commenced  His  operations  and 
surely  He  will  go  on." 

Dr.  Howard  Agnew  Johnson  gives  a  beau- 
tiful illustration  of  the  silent  ongoing  of  the 
work  of  the  Spirit  in  the  human  heart.  It  is 
a  man's  search  for  God,  and  God's  revealing 
Himself  to  a  man  in  the  person  of  a  governor 
of  a  remote  province  in  Siam.  A  missionary 
who  had  heard  something  of  the  facts  sought 
an  audience  that  he  might  have  the  expe- 
rience of  this  distinguished  yet  humble  be- 
liever. As  he  entered  the  grounds  of  the 
palace  he  saw  a  venerable  man  through  the 
trees  standing  on  the  veranda,  with  his  wife 
by  his  side.  At  the  approach  of  the  visitors 
they  exclaimed,  "  Hosanna,  Hosanna." 

The  story  was  as  follows :  Many  years 
before  while  mending  a  broken  idol  he  called 
his  wife's  attention  to  the  human  hand  and 
how  much  greater  it  was  than  those  lifeless 
images.  They  agreed  it  was  absurd  to  con- 
tinue such  worship  so  they  destroyed  the 
idols,  returned  to  the  empty  room  and  began 
without  book  or  guide  to  worship  the  greatest 
being  in  the  universe.  This  they  continued 
for  thirty  years,  **  if  haply  they  might  feel 
after  Him  and  find  Him." 

The  passing  of  a  colporteur  through  the 


GOD  SEEKING  MAN  7 1 

province,  with  Bibles  for  sale,  secured  for  him 
the  very  Word  of  God.  Together  the  de- 
vout couple  read  the  sacred  writings.  Upon 
reaching  the  passage  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apos- 
tles where  Paul's  sermon  on  Mars  Hill  is 
recorded  and  where  he  addressed  those  who 
worshipped  before  the  altar  of  the  unknown 
God,  he  exclaimed,  "  We  have  been  living  in 
Athens  for  thirty  years."  Urged  by  his 
people  to  give  them  a  statement  of  his  faith, 
he  wrote  it  down  and  taking  it  from  a  litde 
box  he  read  it  to  the  missionary  as  follows, 
"  I  believe  in  God  the  Father,  who  made  all 
things.  I  believe  in  Jesus  Christ  the  Son  of 
God  as  my  Saviour.  I  believe  in  the  Hoty 
Ghost  as  my  Comforter  and  teacher." 

God,  through  His  Spirit,  has  ever  been 
seeking  to  make  Himself  known  to  man. 
He  employs  various  methods  to  reach  and 
influence  men,  but  seems  to  adjust  His 
method  of  approach  to  primitive  people  in 
ways  that  may  best  reach  untutored  minds. 

Warneck,  after  years  of  study  of  animistic 
religions  in  the  Indian  archipelago,  remarks, 
*'  God  often  influences  the  inner  life  of  the 
heathen  by  dreams  and  visions  in  such  a 
manner  that  all  psychological  explanations 
leave  something  inexplicable.  The  function 
of  these  is  to  point  to  the  Gospel,  as  yet  litde 


72  THE  HOLY   SPIRIT 

heeded."  These  phenomena  have  been  so 
constant,  so  wide-spread,  so  powerful  in  turn- 
ing men  and  entire  communities  to  God, 
and  have  fallen  under  the  observation  of  so 
many  reliable  witnesses  that  they  can  neither 
be  discredited  nor  ignored.  In  the  Battak 
Mission,  the  attention  of  not  a  few  heathen 
was  drawn  to  Christianity  through  dreams. 
The  Kols  are  said  to  have  dreamed  of  the 
coming  of  missionaries  long  before  they  ar- 
rived. It  is  recorded  that  the  savage  head 
hunters  on  the  island  of  Nias  were  led  to  ac- 
cept Christianity  through  a  dream. 

A  Norwegian  missionary  reports  the  ex- 
perience of  an  old  man  among  the  Santals  as 
follows  : — In  a  dream,  a  man  appeared  to 
him  and  said  :  ''  Go  from  thy  village  to  a 
place  which  I  shall  show  thee ;  thou  wilt  find 
something  which  thou  wilt  take  to  the  mis- 
sionary, and  he  will  explain  it  to  thee. 
Thereby  thou  wilt  receive  life  ;  and  then  thou 
wilt  bring  it  to  others."  He  went  to  the 
place  by  night,  and  after  long  waiting  found 
a  piece  of  written  paper,  which  he  carried  to 
the  missionary.  It  was  a  Christian  Santal 
poem,  and  this  the  missionary  used  to  ex- 
pound to  him  the  message  of  salvation.  He 
came  to  Christ  and  laboured  to  bring  his  vil- 
lage to  the  truth. 


GOD  SEEKING  MAN  73 

The  Karens  in  northern  Burmah  give  an- 
other illustration  of  God's  dealings  with  a 
primitive  people.  A  tradition  among  them, 
originating  in  a  dream,  had  assume^  the  na- 
ture of  a  prediction,  that  their  enlightenment 
would  some  day  come  through  white  men 
who  would  restore  the  "word  of  Ywah" 
(God),  which  they  had  lost.  An  humble 
Karen,  converted  while  in  the  service  of 
Doctor  Judson,  became  an  apostle  to  his 
people — the  famous  Ko-thay-byu.  With  the 
thrilling  news  that  the  long  expected  teacher 
had  come,  they  flocked  from  every  section  of 
their  hill  country  to  hear  him,  and  thousands 
embraced  the  Christian  faith. 

Fifty  years  ago,  on  the  China  coast,  a  junk 
entering  the  mouth  of  the  Yangtse  River  was 
boarded  by  robbers.  The  sailors  were  killed 
or  thrown  into  the  sea.  A  young  man  by 
the  name  of  Hu,  son  of  a  Tientsin  merchant, 
leaped  overboard,  swam  to  the  shore  and 
made  his  way  to  Shanghai.  While  passing 
the  door  of  a  chapel  in  the  walled  city  his  at- 
tention was  attracted  by  a  sermon  from  Rev. 
J.  W.  Lambuth  which  led  to  his  conversion. 
For  five  years  he  preached  with  the  mission- 
ary along  the  canals  and  on  the  rice  junks 
near  the  city  of  Suchow.  Returning  to 
Tientsin    an    effective    evangelist,    he    was 


74  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT 

preaching  in  a  street  chapel  when  a  vener- 
able Chinaman  entered,  listened  eagerly  and 
at  the  close  of  the  service  told  his  story.  A 
Buddhist  in  early  life,  his  idols  gave  him  no 
comfort.  Later  he  became  a  Confucianist, 
but  failed  to  realize  God.  He  yearned  for 
Hght,  but  there  seemed  to  be  none  for  him. 
He  wanted  God,  but  knew  not  where  to  find 
Him.  But  God  wanted  him,  and  in  a  dream, 
which  seemed  more  like  a  vision,  he  was  im- 
pressed that  he  must  set  out  on  foot  for 
Tientsin,  a  journey  of  many  miles.  There  he 
would  find  a  man  who  could  tell  him  about 
God.  Arrived  in  the  city  he  had  wandered 
from  place  to  place,  until  he  entered  the 
chapel.  At  once  he  realized  the  fulfillment 
of  his  dream.  Here  he  was  to  find  God.  He 
did  find  Him,  for  his  acceptance  of  Christ  was 
immediate  and  joyful.  Mr.  Hu  returned 
with  his  friend,  *'  assuredly  gathering  that  the 
Lord  had  called  him  to  preach  the  Gospel  in 
Laoling.  From  that  single  household  as  a 
centre,  the  great  Laoling  work  spread  in 
ever-widening  circles  until  scores  of  villages 
accepted  the  Gospel. 

Warneck  in  reviewing  this  subject  makes 
the  following  comment :  '*  God,  Uke  a  wise 
teacher,  condescends  to  the  childlike  thought 
of  uncivilized  man,  that  He  may  tell  him,  in 


GOD  SEEKING  MAN  75 

a  way  he  can  understand,  things  which  he 
would  otherwise  hardly  accept.  We  cannot 
fully  explain  these  soul-processes  without  the 
thought  of  the  divine  influence  working  there. 
We  must  not  banish  such  experiences  to  the 
realm  of  fable ;  they  are  too  well  attested  and 
they  are  met  with  everywhere  among  animis- 
tic peoples  with  considerable  regularity. 
Neither  must  we  overestimate  them.  They 
have  nothing  more  than  a  preparatory  sig- 
nificance ;  they  lead  no  further  than  to  the 
door  of  the  Gospel.  Like  other  divine  re- 
minders, they  may  be  disregarded  ;  they  may 
also  be  misinterpreted  and  abused.  In  such 
divinely  influenced  processes  of  soul,  which 
have  abundant  parallels  in  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments,  we  see  the  sway  of  God,  whose 
sovereign  hand  interposes  in  the  destiny  of 
men  and  turns  their  hearts  like  the  water- 
brooks."  ' 

"  To  the  African,"  says  Mr.  Dan  Crawford, 
**  a  dream  is  an  av ant- courier  from  to-mor- 
row, a  whisper  out  of  eternity  for  the  guidance 
of  men.  Farther  east  I  came  across  a  proof 
of  this.  Coming  out  of  the  grass,  I  met  a 
band  of  solemn  looking  men  with  a  curious 
old-world   look   in   their   faces.     Wonder  of 

1  Warneck,  "  The   Living  Christ  and  Dying  Heathenism," 
p.  182. 


76  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT 

wonders,  they  were  a  *  dream  embassy,'  said 
they ;  had  travelled  a  long  way  and  were  on 
foot  on  a  kind  of  missionary  journey  from 
one  chief  to  another,  his  friend  and  faithful 
ally  of  years.  A  '  dream  embassy,'  mark  you, 
God  having  spoken  to  their  chief  in  a  great 
dream  ;  and  the  solemnity  of  it  all  had  so 
sunk  into  the  monarch's  soul  that  he  sent  off 
these  missionaries  of  his  dream  to  warn  his 
dear  friend,  a  brother-king,  of  the  ways  of 
God  with  man. 

**  So  serious  is  this  dream-telling  that  they 
have  coined  a  special  verb  (Lotolwela),  *to 
expound  a  dream.'  Not  in  the  temper  of 
mere  expediency  did  I  listen  to  their  sacred 
story,  the  African  tete-a-tete  with  the  Infinite, 
men  on  the  march  for  many  miles,  their  theme, 
God !  God  I  God  I  Picture  me  there  a  dazed 
missionary  listening  to  these  dream-tellers — 
listening  and  wondering — listening  and  won- 
dering— as  with  uplifted  hands  they  point 
skywards  and  paint  it  all  so  vividly.  Telling 
me  of  the  stately  goings  of  God  in  their  far- 
away marsh  ;  how  that  He  challenged  their 
king  as  to  his  dignity ;  how  that  the  king  re- 
sponded with  his  long  array  of  titles ;  and 
how  that  the  more  he  vaunted  before  God  the 
less  did  his  strength  become.  Yet  again  and 
again  did  God  so  ask  him  who  he  was,  and 


GOD   SEEKING   MAN  77 

just  SO  often  did  their  king  make  this  foolish 
boast  of  dignity — only  to  find  his  strength 
oozing  out  of  his  body.  But  just  as,  in 
painting,  light  is  brought  out  by  shade,  so 
this  king  learned  the  secret  of  power  from 
this  very  secret  of  weakness.  For  finally  God 
said  He  '  would  make  an  end,'  and  this  word 
*  end  '  was  the  beginning  of  bliss.  Said  the 
monarch:  'King?  No  king  am  I,  but  a 
worthless  slave.  All  Kingship  is  Thine  and 
all  power  I '  Then  it  was  the  wondrous  tide 
of  power  flowed  back  into  his  body :  the 
weakling  now  a  giant ;  the  abject  a  strong 
man,  made  strong  out  of  weakness. 

"  Mere  dream  though  it  was,  it  has  sol- 
emnly crystallized  into  dogma,  and  here  am 
I,  a  missionary,  stumbling  across  these  other 
'  dream-missionaries  '  in  the  grass.  In  our 
zeal  for  God's  written  record  we  are  too  apt 
to  treat  all  this  as  a  weird  and  doubtful  busi- 
ness— mere  misty  dream.  Forgetful  of  the 
fact  that  God's  own  book  it  is  that  declares, 
'  In  a  dream  ...  He  openeth  the  ears 
of  men.'  Forgetful,  likewise,  that  if  Eng- 
land does  not  get  these  divine  dreams  it  is 
because  England,  a  land  full  of  Bibles,  does  not 
need  them.  Forgetful,  finally,  that  God  may 
speak  to  those  to  whom  He  does  not  write."  * 

^  Dan  Crawford,  «'  Thinking  Black,"  p.  57. 


78  THE  HOLY   SPIRIT 

The  world  is  to  be  won  by  making  man 
think  God's  thoughts.  Intellectualism  with- 
out religion  is  perilous  to  the  individual,  to 
society  and  to  the  State.  Religion  without 
intelligence  quickly  degenerates  into  super- 
stition and  immorality.  History  is  replete 
with  illustrations  of  the  evils  of  intellectualism 
without  moral  character  and  religion.  As  to 
the  latter  there  are  many  tribes  and  primitive 
races  whose  traditions  and  folk-lore  indicate 
the  existence  in  the  past  of  a  higher  form  of 
religious  faith,  but  the  lack  of  reverent  thought 
and  of  intelligent  obedience  has  led  to  de- 
generate religious  conceptions. 

The  ungodly  man  will  not  think  because 
he  dare  not.  His  sin  confronts  him.  The 
heathen  does  not  think  because  he  cannot,  he 
has  lost  the  power.  But  man  must  think 
or  he  is  lost.  The  Holy  Spirit,  who  has 
been  styled  the  Thinker  of  the  Godhead, 
seeks  men  and  sets  them  to  thinking  by 
a  divine  compulsion.  He  it  is  who  reveals, 
inspires,  and  compels  to  thought  by  the  very 
force  of  His  character.  **  Man  never  thinks 
as  when  the  Spirit  of  God  holds  him  with 
some  great  truth."  It  is  the  seed  of  truth 
dropped  in  the  soil  of  the  unregenerate  heart 
warmed  and  energized  by  the  Spirit  which 
leads  to  an  awakening  from  death  to  life.     It 


GOD  SEEKING  MAN  79 

is  the  function  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  convict 
of  sin,  of  righteousness,  and  of  judgment. 
The  whole  process  is  a  compulsion  of  man's 
thought,  a  thinking  of  God's  thought,  a 
quickening  of  conscience  and  the  true  re- 
pentance which  leads  to  the  re-creation  of  the 
life  of  the  soul. 

The  Holy  Spirit  sets  man  to  praying  be- 
cause He  is  the  great  Intercessor.  He  teaches 
to  pray.  He  prompts  the  offering  of  prayer 
and  supplication.  He  selects  the  object  for 
intercession,  and  when  we  do  not  know  what 
to  pray  for  as  we  ought,  maketh  intercession 
for  us  with  groanings  which  cannot  be  ut- 
tered. 

The  Holy  Spirit  sets  man  to  planning  be- 
cause He  is  the  Administrator  of  the  King- 
dom of  God.  Human  plans  are  short-sighted. 
They  lack  reach  and  power.  They  often  fail 
of  their  objective.  Time  and  strength  are 
wasted  in  the  multiplication  of  machinery  or 
in  premature  efforts  put  forth  in  haste.  We 
need  to  give  the  Holy  Spirit  time  and  liberty. 
It  is  He  who  is  able  to  see  the  end  from  the 
beginning.  He  is  the  consummate  organizer 
of  the  universe  and  has  been  entrusted  with 
every  detail  in  the  advancement  of  the  King- 
dom. To  rush  in  advance  of  His  movement 
is  foolhardy,  to  fall  to  the  rear  and  lose  sight 


8o  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT 

of  His  footsteps  is  perilous.  Man's  place  is 
that  of  intelligent  study  of  God's  plans,  sym- 
pathetic cooperation  with  His  purpose,  and  a 
reverent,  prayerful  alliance  with  Him  who  is 
both  Administrator  and  Intercessor.  Into 
His  hands  have  been  committed  as  a  trust 
the  spiritual  forces  upon  which  depend  the 
welfare  and  development  of  a  redeemed 
humanity — here  and  hereafter. 

Forbidden  by  the  East  India  Company  to 
make  a  home  in  India,  the  Judsons  were 
compelled  to  sail  for  Rangoon,  Burma,  a 
Providence  which  they  could  not  then  under- 
stand. Here,  "  remote,  unfriended  and  bereft 
of  every  stay  but  heaven,"  they  passed  nearly 
two  years  before  assurance  came  that  the 
American  Baptists  had  agreed  to  establish  a 
Mission  and  had  committed  themselves  to 
their  support.  Out  of  these  circumstances, 
over  which  neither  they  nor  any  one  else 
seemed  to  have  control,  came  the  formation 
of  a  Baptist  Board  of  Missions.  The  shaping 
hand  belonged  to  God.  "The  honour  of 
commencing  the  Burman  Mission,"  wrote 
Professor  Gammel,  ''  is  to  be  ascribed  rather 
to  the  Divine  Head  of  the  Church,  than  to 
any  leading  movement  or  agency  of  the 
Baptist  denomination."  Thus  the  later 
chapters  of  the  history  of  the  work  of  the 


GOD  SEEKING  MAN  8 1 

Holy  Spirit  in  the  Church  are  being  written 
in  the  Hves  of  faithful  believers,  and  the  record 
is  just  as  much  a  miracle  of  the  transforming 
presence  and  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  as  in 
the  days  of  the  Apostolic  Church. 

The  case  of  Barnabas  Shaw  is  another 
striking  illustration  of  the  agency  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  as  the  Pioneer  of  missions.  He  landed 
in  Cape  Town  in  1815.  The  Dutch  were 
intolerant,  and  denied  him  permission  to 
preach  the  Gospel.  Buying  a  yoke  of  oxen 
and  a  wagon,  he  and  his  wife  trekked  into 
the  interior  with  their  little  earthly  store, 
not  knowing  where  they  should  establish  a 
mission,  but  looking  to  the  Lord  for  guidance. 
They  journeyed  three  hundred  miles,  and  on 
the  twenty-seventh  day  stopped  for  the  night. 
The  camp-fires  of  a  company  of  natives,  near 
by,  attracted  attention.  To  Shaw's  astonish- 
ment it  was  a  band  of  pagan  Hottentots,  led 
by  their  chief,  who  were  on  their  way  to  the 
Cape  in  quest  of  a  missionary  to  teach  them 
*♦  the  Great  Word." 

"  Had  either  party  started  a  half-day  earlier 
or  later  they  would  not  have  met ;  but  as  it 
was,  they  met  just  in  the  nick  of  time,  and 
that  nick  of  time  proved  such  a  juncture  of 
Providence  as  has  rarely  occurred  in  the 
history    of    God's    Church.     What    is    this 


82  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT 

but   a   modern   chapter  of  the  Acts  of   the 
Apostles?"' 

After  God  had  declared  Himself  through 
Jesus  Christ  to  be  the  Father  of  spirits,  could 
He  be  contented  with  the  revelation  of  Him- 
self as  an  impersonal  force  ?  That  would 
have  been  to  fall  back  again  upon  law,  and 
the  deadening  influence  of  soulless  power. 
It  was  necessary  that  the  incarnation  and 
epiphany  of  the  Son  of  God  should  be  suc- 
ceeded by  the  knowledge  of  the  personality 
and  epiphany  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Without 
Him  the  apostles  could  not  do  the  "  greater 
things  than  these "  which  the  Master  had 
promised.  To  deny  the  personality  and  to 
withhold  the  epiphany  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
would  have  been  to  risk  the  collapse  of  the 
whole  enterprise  of  preaching  the  Gospel  to 
every  creature.  That  enterprise  is  a  per- 
sonally conducted  one,  or  nothing.  He  who 
leads  is  no  other  than  the  Person  who  was 
manifested  at  Pentecost,  at  Caesarea,  and  at 
Ephesus.  It  is  He  who  has  been  manifesting 
Himself  on  every  occasion  and  in  every  place 
where  men  and  women,  devoted  to  the  one 
work  of  winning  the  world,  have  sought  His 
presence.  His  seal  should  be  set  to  their 
prayers  and  to  the  work  of  their  hands. 

1  A.  J.  Gordon,  "  The  Holy  Spirit  in  Missions,"  p.  96. 


GOD  SEEKING  MAN  83 

The  apostles  wrote,  and  wrought,  and 
lived,  "  in  a  very  atmosphere  of  power,  so 
supreme  was  the  consciousness  that  God 
dwelt  graciously  within,  and  was  moving 
omnipotently  without."  For  them  to  real- 
ize God's  presence  through  the  ministry  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  was  to  create  and  extend  an 
atmosphere  of  grace  and  power  to  all  men — 
the  grace  of  Jesus  Christ  in  the  offer  of  re- 
demption to  every  man,  and  the  power  of 
Jesus  Christ  to  give  life  to  all  the  world.  If 
these  possibilities  were  made  available  to 
the  aposdes  through  the  mercy  and  the  love 
of  God,  they  can  and  should  be  availed  of 
by  the  appropriating  faith  and  loving  obedi- 
ence of  every  man.  To  fail  to  appropriate 
such  gifts  and  to  extend  them  to  others  is  to 
fail  in  our  conception  of  what  true  brother- 
hood and  aposdeship  mean. 

In  a  study  of  the  apostolic  age  we  are  not 
justified  in  the  conclusion  that  the  gift  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  was  to  be  confined  to  that 
age.  Pentecost,  it  is  true,  stands  back  there 
like  some  headland  marking  the  fringe  of  a 
great  continent  of  grace  and  of  spiritual 
power.  It  inaugurated  the  dispensation  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  but  we  are  in  the  midst  of 
that  dispensation.  Those  were  days  in  which 
signs  and  wonders  were  needed.     That  need 


84  THE   HOLY  SPIRIT 

may  have  passed  away,  but  the  great  pur- 
pose of  God  remains.  His  grace  is  undi- 
minished, His  power  is  not  exhausted,  and 
the  miracle  of  transformed  lives  is  as  signif- 
icant and  as  great  as  in  the  earlier  centuries. 
The  need  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  greater  if  we 
would  measure  that  need  by  the  openness  to 
the  Gospel  upon  the  part  of  the  nations ;  and 
of  enduement  upon  the  part  of  the  Church 
for  the  consummation  of  the  task. 

**  Nothing,"  writes  William  Arthur,  "can  be 
more  contrary  to  the  whole  spirit  and  genius 
of  a  revealed  religion  than  that  the  progress 
of  years  and  events  should  be  coupled  with  a 
diminishing  amount  of  divine  life  and  grace 
among  men.  All  things  promise  us  prog- 
ress, not  retrogression.  No  principle  of 
Christianity,  and  no  passage  of  the  Chris- 
tian Scriptures,  warrants  the  expectation  that 
the  system  is  to  decline  with  age,  and  to 
grow  dim  before  its  day  ends."  ^ 

Not  only  has  the  Holy  Spirit  been  silently 
but  surely  at  work  in  the  world  among  the 
nations  in  all  ages,  but  there  is  an  increasing 
manifestation  of  His  presence  and  of  the 
divine  life  and  power  in  these  last  days. 
We  have  not  only  the  promise  of  progress, 
but   the   signs  and  signals  of  God's  provi- 

» William  Arthur,  "  The  Tongue  of  Fire,"  p.  II2. 


GOD   SEEKING  MAN  85 

dence.  Man's  prayer  has  been  preceded 
by  God's  preparation.  Expectation  is  in  the 
air  and  wide-spread.  God's  power  is  being 
released  in  many  fields  and  His  Spirit  is 
flowing  through  many  channels.  Now,  let 
there  be  a  fulfillment  of  the  Scripture,  "  Thy 
people  shall  be  willing  in  the  day  of  Thy 
power." 

The  story  of  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  upon  the  Church  in  Uganda  is  but  an 
illustration  of  the  unloosing  of  spiritual  forces 
in  other  fields.  So  deeply  had  Pilkington 
come  to  feel  the  dearth  of  results,  and  the 
need  of  a  divine  reenforcement,  that  he  re- 
tired to  Kome,  an  island  in  Victoria  Nyanza 
Lake.  There,  for  a  few  days,  he  spent  the 
time  in  searching  the  Scriptures  and  in  sup- 
plication. The  immediate  occasion  of  his 
distress  and  self-examination  was  the  experi- 
ence of  Musa,  a  native  convert,  who  had  re- 
quested that  he  be  reported  to  the  church  as 
having  returned  to  heathenism.  Upon  being 
asked  if  he  understood  what  he  was  doing, 
he  replied,  "  Do  you  think  I  have  been  read- 
ing seven  years  and  do  not  understand  ? 
Your  religion  does  not  profit  me  at  all.  I 
have  done  with  it." 

It  was  a  terrific  home  thrust.  Pilkington, 
the  successor  of  Mackay,  a  Cambridge  Uni- 


86  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT 

versity  graduate  who  had  won  a  place  "  in 
the  highest  division  of  the  Classical  Tripos 
of  his  year,"  and  was  an  able  translator  of 
the  Bible  into  both  the  Luganda  and  Swahili, 
had  not  learned  the  secret  of  power — the 
most  important  secret  in  the  life  of  any 
Christian  worker,  and  especially  a  mission- 
ary. Speaking  of  it  several  years  later  at 
a  great  meeting  of  students  in  Liverpool,  he 
gives  this  simple,  straightforward  account  of 
it: 

**  If  it  had  not  been  that  God  enabled  me, 
after  three  years  in  the  mission  field,  to  ac- 
cept by  faith  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  I 
should  have  given  up  the  work.  I  could  not 
have  gone  on  as  I  was  then.  A  book  by 
David,  the  Tamil  evangelist,  showed  me  my 
life  was  not  right ;  that  I  had  not  the  power 
of  the  Holy  Ghost.  I  had  consecrated  my- 
self hundreds  of  times,  but  I  had  not  accepted 
God's  gift.  I  saw  now  that  God  commanded 
me  to  be  filled  with  the  Spirit.  Then  I  read, 
'  All  things  whatsoever  ye  pray  and  ask  for, 
believe  that  ye  have  received  them,  and  ye 
shall  have  them,'  and  claiming  this  promise, 
I  received  the  Holy  Spirit." 

What  followed  the  renewal  of  the  spiri- 
tual life  of  this  missionary,  of  whom  Bishop 
Keener  once  said,  ''  He  is,  perhaps,  the  best 


GOD  SEEKING  MAN  87 

illustration  in  modern  missions  of  the  work 
and  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit "  ?  He  returned 
from  Kome  and  gave  his  experience.  The 
missionaries  who  heard  pledged  themselves 
to  pray  for  the  same  gift.  The  following 
morning  the  native  church  was  assembled. 
Pilkington  again  told  the  story  of  his  own 
sense  of  need,  of  heart  hunger,  and  of  God's 
wonderful  supply  through  His  Spirit.  Nor 
did  he  hide  from  the  congregation  the  pur- 
pose of  the  disappointed  Musa  to  turn  his 
back  upon  Christianity.  He  confessed  the 
shame  of  it  all,  accepted  his  share  of  respon- 
sibility and  called  the  church  to  prayer.  The 
effect  was  electrical.  Hundreds  were  on 
their  knees  confessing  their  sins  and  praying 
for  forgiveness.  Confession  was  followed  by 
surrender,  by  acceptance  of  Christ  and  of  the 
gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  For  more  than  four 
hours  this  continued.  Other  services  were 
set  for  that  day  and  the  next.  Five  hundred 
were  at  the  sunrise  prayer-meeting  next 
morning,  and  two  hundred  remained  to  the 
after  meeting  for  special  inquiry.  Sunday 
was  a  great  day.  They  were  in  the  midst  of 
a  sweeping  revival  which  was  characterized 
by  public  confession  of  sin  and  acceptance  of 
divine  grace.  Among  the  number  were  sev- 
eral chiefs,  and  the  Katakiro,  or  Prime  Min- 


88  THE   HOLY  SPIRIT 

ister.  Musa,  himself,  was  restored  to  his 
faith. 

It  was  the  repentance  unto  the  remission 
of  sins  of  which  Peter  spoke  at  Pentecost  and 
the  fulfillment  of  his  words — '*  And  ye  shall 
receive  the  Holy  Spirit.  For  to  you  is  the 
promise  and  to  your  children,  and  to  all  that 
are  afar  off,  even  as  many  as  the  Lord  our 
God  shall  call  unto  Him." 

In  Ezekiel  the  vision  of  the  valley  of  dry 
bones  is  followed  by  the  vision  of  the  holy 
waters.  Out  from  the  invisible  sanctuary 
and  from  under  the  threshold  of  the  habita- 
tion of  God's  Spirit,  the  waters  flowed  in 
ever  enriching  streams.  **  And  everything 
shall  live  whither  the  river  cometh." 

How  beautiful  an  illustration  of  this  river 
of  spiritual  life  does  the  traveller  find  in  the 
Nile.  The  great  river  of  Egypt  threads  its 
way  out  of  the  unseen,  and  for  centuries  the 
unknown,  and  winds  ribbon-like  through  the 
long  narrow  valley  for  hundreds  of  miles. 
Back  in  the  heart  of  the  mysterious  African 
continent  is  the  immense  lake  and  the  inex- 
haustible springs,  from  which  it  draws  its 
supply.  From  the  perennial  swelling  of 
those  fountains  rolls  the  rich  tide  through 
desert  wastes,  by  burning  sands,  temple 
ruins  and  buried  cities,  until  in  green  fields 


GOD  SEEKING  MAN  89 

and  growing  gardens  the  heart  of  man  is 
made  glad.  Where  once  was  parched  and 
arid  ground  one  may  now  ride  through  acres 
of  wheat  and  clover  and  along  '*  avenues  of 
tamarisk,  fig  trees  and  acacia,"  and  following 
on  watch  the  great  stream  empty  itself  by 
many  mouths  into  the  blue  sea. 

It  is  a  figure  of  the  River  of  Life — the 
River  of  God.  **  And  everything  shall  live 
whither  the  river  cometh."  Inflow  from 
above,  ankle  deep,  knee  deep,  loin  deep, 
risen  waters,  "  waters  to  swim  in,  a  river  that 
could  not  be  passed  over," — sweeping  along 
majestically  in  its  might.  Overflow  on  every 
side,  through  sluice  gates  and  open  channels, 
over  land  and  waiting  fields,  until  the  seed 
sown  beside  all  waters  yields  the  abundant 
harvest.  "  We  are  on  the  flood  side  of  Pen- 
tecost." The  tide  is  rising,  and  the  harvest 
is  near.  The  victory  of  faith  shall  be  re- 
peated. The  impulse  of  a  new  life  has  come 
because  of  the  overflow  of  the  Spirit. 

It  took  power  for  William  Carey  to  go 
down  into  the  pit,  but  Jesus  said,  **  Ye  shall 
receive  power,"  and  he  went  down  with  only 
one  man,  Andrew  Fuller,  to  hold  the  ropes. 
It  took  power  for  Bishop  Pattison  to  give  his 
life  to  evangelize  a  lot  of  Melanesian  sav- 
ages, but  his  Lord   said,  "  Ye  shall  receive 


90  THE   HOLY  SPIRIT 

power,"  and  he  sacrificed  his  life  with  five 
bleeding  wounds  received  at  their  hands.  It 
took  power  for  a  young  physician  to  give  up 
his  professional  ambitions,  but  *'  Ye  shall  re- 
ceive power,"  said  the  Great  Physician,  and 
he  went  forth  to  seek  and  to  save  the  lost, 
and  Nixon  stricken  by  yellow  fever  yielded 
up  his  life  in  Mexico.  It  took  power  for  a 
great-hearted  woman,  the  centre  of  a  circle 
of  devoted  friends,  to  surrender  a  position  as 
an  educator  that  any  one  might  covet,  but 
Laura  Haygood  believed  in  the  words  of  the 
world's  greatest  Teacher,  received  power,  and 
spent  her  life  for  China's  women  and  chil- 
dren, saying,  **  Wherever  there  is  a  soul 
without  Christ  there  is  my  mission  field." 
It  takes  power  for  a  rich  young  man  to  lay 
down  his  wealth  at  Jesus'  feet  and  follow 
Him  ;  but  "  Ye  shall  receive  power  "  are  the 
answering  words  of  the  great  Master  of  men, 
and  young  William  Borden  surrendered  his 
millions  cheerfully,  and  threw  himself  into 
the  fight  with  Zwemer  in  Cairo  against  the 
Mohammedan  advance  and  followed  in  the 
martyrs'  train. 

**  The  power,  after  all,  by  which  we  are  to 
work  in  this  effort  to  accomplish,  as  far  as  we 
may,  God's  purpose  in  the  world,  is  the 
power  of  the  Holy  Ghost.     It  is  not  in  the 


GOD  SEEKING  MAN  91 

truths,  stupendous  as  they  are  ;  it  is  not  in 
the  facts,  transcendent  as  they  are  ;  it  is  not 
in  the  tender  and  terrible  solemnity  and 
pathos  of  the  Cross  of  Christ,  even  ;  it  is  in 
the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  given  unto 
us." ' 

The  personal  superintendence  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  of  the  missionary  work  of  the  Apostolic 
Church  was  a  notable  and  unique  feature  of 
that  work.  The  leaders  in  the  movement 
recognized  it,  and  yielded  themselves  to  His 
guiding  personality.  "And  as  they  minis- 
tered to  the  Lord,  and  fasted,  the  Holy  Spirit 
said.  Separate  me  Barnabas  and  Saul  for  the 
work  whereunto  I  have  called  them.  .  .  . 
So  they,  being  sent  forth  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
went  down  to  Seleucia ;  and  from  thence 
they  sailed  to  Cyprus."  He  vigorously  pro- 
moted their  itineration  on  ever  expanding 
circles,  or  effectively  hindered  their  efforts  to 
enter  fields  that  were  not  ready. 

They  adjusted  themselves  to  a  divinely 
ordered  policy  which  was  not  so  much  to 
have  them  move  along  the  lines  of  least  re- 
sistance, as  to  enter  fields  providentially  pre- 
pared ;  make  use  of  trade  routes  and  military 
roads;  occupy,  as  a  part  of  missionary 
strategy,  centres  of  population  with  Jewish 

»  R.  S.  Storrs,  "  Addresses  on  Foreign  Missions." 


92  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT 

colonies  and  synagogues  as  a  base  for  opera- 
tions ;  and  from  those  centres  evangelize  the 
provincial  towns  and  rural  sections. 

The  record  is  that  Paul  and  his  companions 
went  throughout  the  region  of  Phrygia  and 
Galatia,  but  being  prevented  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  from  evangelizing  in  Asia  and  Bithynia, 
they  came  down  to  Troas.  Here  the  vision 
was  given  in  which  a  man  of  Macedonia  ap- 
peared to  Paul,  beseeching  him,  and  saying, 
*'  Come  over  into  Macedonia  and  help  us." 

There  was  no  hesitation.  These  men  were 
sensitive  to  the  touch  of  God.  "Straight- 
way," says  the  historian  of  that  wonderful 
hour  pregnant  with  possibilities  for  the 
Roman  empire,  and  for  nations  yet  in  the 
womb  of  the  future,  **  Straightway,  we  sought 
to  go  forth  into  Macedonia,  concluding  that 
God  had  called  us  to  preach  the  Gospel  unto 
them." 

It  is  the  more  remarkable  that  the  progress 
of  these  missionaries  should  have  been  west- 
ward instead  of  towards  the  Orient.  But 
others  of  the  apostolic  group  were  intended 
for  service  in  the  East.  Paul,  the  Roman 
citizen,  had  been  providentially  prepared  for 
leadership  in  the  West.  Intelligently  guided 
by  the  Spirit  along  the  great  highways  of 
the  nations,  away  from  the  cults  and  mys- 


GOD  SEEKING  MAN  93 

ticism  of  the  Asiatic  continent,  he  pressed 
forward  to  the  capitals  of  the  younger  and 
more  vigorous  nations,  where,  it  is  true, 
heathenism  was  intrenched,  but  from  which, 
as  organized  centres  of  administrative  and 
civic  Hfe,  the  Gospel  might  the  more  rapidly 
and  effectively  be  propagated. 

Pilkington  after  the  revival  in  Uganda 
made  a  survey  of  that  field  and  the  methods 
adopted.  He  reached  the  conclusion  that  a 
policy  of  missionary  occupation  should  be 
apostolic  in  following  the  leadership  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  rather  than  a  hard  and  fast 
prearranged  program.  He  argued  that  mis- 
sionary and  native  evangelists  should  go,  if 
there  was  any  choice,  where  communities 
were  open  and  desirous  of  hearing,  rather 
than  spending  years  in  indifferent  and  hostile 
sections.  In  the  latter  a  large  measure  of  the 
time  and  strength  of  the  missionary  force 
might  be  wasted,  the  native  church  lose  the 
inspiration  of  growth  and  progress,  and  the 
home  church  be  saved  from  long  delay  and 
discouragement  in  waiting  for  results.  A 
sad  commentary  on  the  home  church,  but 
has  it  not  always  been  the  least  heroic  ? 

His  argument  so  profoundly  impressed  the 
missionaries  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society 
in   India   that   with   magnificent   generosity 


94  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT 

they  urged  the  sending  of  a  strong  contingent 
to  Uganda  rather  than  to  their  own  field.  It 
was  to  meet  a  demand  clearly  created  by  the 
Spirit  of  God  working  in  the  native  church, 
the  fires  upon  the  altar  of  which  were  begin- 
ning to  spread  into  a  flame  of  evangelism. 

This  was  the  policy  which  led  to  the  open- 
ing by  the  Methodist  Episocopal  Church, 
South,  of  a  mission  in  Korea,  and  in  certain 
sections  of  China  by  the  China  Inland  Mis- 
sion. Had  such  been  more  widely  adopted  in 
other  fields,  far  greater  progress  might  have 
been  made  in  creating  centres  of  spiritual 
rather  than  human  activity,  and  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  self-supporting  and  self-propagat- 
ing churches  under  a  native  leadership.  And 
yet  this  cannot  be  pushed  too  far.  There 
have  been  times  when  it  was  necessary  to 
capture  and  hold  centres  where  heathenism 
has  been  entrenched  for  ages  and  has  seemed 
immovable.  Siege  guns  and  not  field  artil- 
lery, infantry  rather  than  flying  squadrons, 
are  required  for  such  w^ork.  Time  is  an 
element.  The  lesson  to  the  missionary  strate- 
gist is  that  he  must,  in  all  things,  seek  to 
know  the  mind  of  Christ  and  to  be  led  of  the 
Holy  Spirit. 

When  religious  faith  loses  touch  with  the 
Spirit  of  God  the  perennial  source  of  life,  it 


GOD   SEEKING  MAN  95 

ceases  to  have  a  vital  experience,  and  be- 
comes powerless  to  transmit  the  divine  energy 
to  a  world  of  dead  souls.  This  is  true  of  the 
Church  in  any  age.  It  is  no  longer  a  con- 
ductor. Ceasing  to  be  a  charged  wire,  it  has 
become  a  dead  one.  There  is  but  one 
remedy — not  the  rehabilitation  of  the  Church, 
but  the  restoration  of  the  connection  with  the 
spiritual  dynamo  which  is  the  source  of  power. 
Then  will  Christianity  be  given  a  message, 
the  Church  furnish  the  messenger,  and  the 
Spirit  of  the  living  God  accompany  both  with 
the  illuminating  and  quickening  power  of 
His  presence. 

It  was  a  Personal  Dynamic  that  roused  the 
soul  of  Savonarola,  awakened  the  gigantic 
energies  of  Martin  Luther,  and  kindled  the 
fires  of  a  new  evangelism  in  the  heart  of 
Wesley.  Fitchett,  in  writing  of  conditions  in 
the  United  Kingdom  prior  to  the  great  evan- 
gelical revival,  says  that  religion  was  **  ex- 
hausted of  its  dynamic  elements — the  vision 
of  a  redeeming  Christ ;  the  message  of  a 
present  and  personal  forgiveness.  .  .  . 
Religion  translated  into  terms  of  living  hu- 
man experience,  and  dwelling  as  a  divine 
energy  in  the  soul,  was  a  forgotten  thing. 
An  electric  lamp  without  the  electric  current 
is  a  mere  loop  of  calcined  fibres,  black  and 


96  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT 

dead.  And  Christianity  itself,  in  England,  at 
the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,  was 
exactly  such  a  circle  of  dead  fibres.  What 
Wesley  did  was  to  pour  the  mystic  current  of 
a  divine  life  through  the  calcined  soul  of  a 
nation,  and  so  turn  blackness  into  flame."  * 
That  current  was  the  Spirit  of  the  living  God 
working  in  and  through  Wesley  to  the 
quickening  of  a  nation  and  the  stirring  of  a 
world. 

As  we  follow  the  luminous  track  of  the 
Spirit  of  God  in  revelation,  in  history  and  in 
missions,  we  find  the  purpose  and  plan  for 
His  Kingdom  ever  expanding,  ever  moving 
forward.  It  was  a  spring  of  cool  water  at 
Bethlehem,  but  that  spring  has  become  a 
majestic  river  which  sweeps  every  shore  and 
waters  the  ends  of  the  earth.  It  was  a  root 
out  of  a  dry  ground  at  Nazareth,  but  that 
root  has  grown  into  a  mighty  tree  under  the 
branches  of  which  the  nations  may  find 
shelter.  It  was  the  finest  of  the  wheat  which 
died  on  Calvary,  but  out  of  death  came  a 
resurrection  in  the  power  of  which  millions 
rejoice,  to-day,  in  the  hope  of  eternal  life.  It 
was  a  company  of  humble  Christians  at  An- 
tioch,  but  two  of  them  were  set  apart  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  for  the  first  great  missionary  jour- 

1  Fitchett,  «*  Wesley  and  His  Century,"  p.  7. 


GOD  SEEKING  MAN  97 

ney,  and  one  became  the  Apostle  to  the  Gentile 
world,  preaching  the  Gospel  in  the  palace  of 
the  Caesars.  It  was  a  little  group  of  Chris- 
tian students  of  Williams  College  who  met 
one  hundred  years  ago  under  a  haystack  for 
prayer — their  leader,  Samuel  J.  Mills,  himself 
the  product  of  a  revival.  To-day,  out  of  one 
movement  alone,  which  had  its  inspiration 
back  there,  over  six  thousand  young  men  and 
women  are  in  the  foreign  field,  and  tens  of 
thousands  are  leagued  together  in  the  Morn- 
ing Watch,  and  in  intercessory  prayer,  that 
the  claims  of  the  Son  of  God  shall  be  pressed 
upon  all  men  until  He  comes  in  His  glory  as 
the  all-conquering  Christ. 

Charles  Cuthbert  Hall  seemed  to  feel  the 
mighty  efflatus  of  the  Spirit  when  he  uttered 
the  words:  **The  divine  Spirit  is  moving 
mightily.  Searchings  of  heart  are  every- 
where. A  glorious  vision  of  God  has  swept 
like  sunlight  across  the  field  of  thought.  The 
influence  of  religion  upon  university  life  is 
unprecedented.  Universities  of  the  West  are 
entering  the  field  of  world-Christianization 
and  projecting  themselves  into  regions  of  the 
Nearer  and  Farther  East.  The  Christian 
students  of  the  world  have  placed  themselves 
upon  a  basis  that  discards  racial  and  sec- 
tarian distinctions  and  have  undertaken   to 


98  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT 

propagate  the  undifferentiated  essence  of  the 
Christian  religion."  ^ 

The  Holy  Spirit  seeks  men  and  qualifies 
them  for  service  in  ways  of  which  they  are 
unconscious.  The  Lone  Star  Mission  in 
India  is  a  striking  illustration  of  faith,  answer 
to  prayer,  and  the  personal  leadership  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  Doctor  Jewett,  in  charge  of  the 
station  at  Ongole,  was  repeatedly  urged  by 
the  American  Baptist  Missionary  Society  to 
give  up  the  work.  He  was  immovable.  He 
firmly  believed  that  "  God  had  much  people 
among  the  Telugus." 

At  the  most  critical  period  of  the  mission's 
history,  Doctor  Jewett,  his  wife  and  three 
converted  natives  climbed  a  hill,  at  dawn, 
overlooking  the  valley  where  the  smoke  of 
over  fifty  heathen  villages  could  be  seen. 
The  pressure  to  close  the  mission  was 
great,  and  the  prayers  were  earnest  and  pro- 
longed. Surely  the  Spirit  Himself  was  mak- 
ing intercession,  for  Jewett  left  the  hill  con- 
vinced that  the  man  for  Ongole  would  be 
given.  Twelve  years  after  that  eventful 
morning  that  man,  who  had  been  providen- 
tially prepared  among  the  American  Indians 
in  the  west,  arrived  upon  the  field  and  set  to 
work.     Thirteen  years  later  there  were  thir- 

iRal],  "  Universal  Elements  of  the  Christian  Religion,"  p.  1 6. 


GOD   SEEKING  MAN  99 

teen  thousand  converts.  The  steps  of  John 
E.  Clough,  Uke  those  of  Alexander  Mackay 
of  Uganda,  were  strangely  ordered  of  the 
Lord.  "  I  had  wanted,"  says  Clough,  "  to 
become  a  lawyer  and  a  politician.  .  .  . 
Did  that  hilltop  meeting  offer  any  solution 
to  these  peculiar  reversals  in  my  life  ? " 
Surely  it  did.  He  knew  nothing  of  the  de- 
mands that  were  to  be  made  upon  him  in 
India  when  he  received  a  license  as  United 
States  Deputy  Surveyor.  By  a  remarkable 
series  of  events  God  had  found  him,  qualified 
him  and  sent  him  to  India.  Twenty  years 
later  when  famine  stalked  abroad,  the  thought 
was  suggested  to  his  mind  of  completing  the 
Buckingham  Canal  in  the  Ongole  District,  to 
furnish  work  and  support  for  thousands  of 
starving  people.  The  British  engineers  rec- 
ognized his  papers,  gave  him  permission  to 
undertake  the  work  of  excavation  and  thus, 
unconsciously  to  themselves  and  to  him, 
opened  the  way  for  a  wonderful  ministry  of 
applied  Christianity  which  not  only  saved  the 
lives  of  thousands,  but  made  him  the  spiritual 
leader  of  a  multitude  of  outcast  people. 

In  the  Introduction  to  her  husband's  life, 
Mrs.  Clough  well  says,  "  A  peculiar  condition 
of  preparedness  was  waiting  for  the  contact 
with  him.     The  man  seldom  creates  the  situ- 


lOO  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT 

ation ;  the  two  must  find  each  other."  The 
two  did  find  each  other,  but  it  was  the  Holy 
Spirit  who  brought  the  man  and  the  situa- 
tion together.  The  impulse  which  led  these 
pariahs  to  Clough,  who,  like  his  Master,  was 
filled  with  compassion,  was  as  much  hunger 
of  the  heart  as  of  the  body.  Ignorant,  de- 
spised, downtrodden,  social  outcasts  for  cen- 
turies, they  met,  for  the  first  time,  a  man  whose 
big-hearted  sympathy  spoke  to  their  own 
hearts.  He  knew  the  Name  that  charmed 
men's  fears,  the  panacea  for  human  woes. 

"The  name  of  Jesus,"  says  Clough,  "was 
spoken  all  day  long  from  one  end  of  our  line 
to  the  other.  The  preachers  carried  a  New 
Testament  in  their  pockets.  It  comforted 
the  people  to  see  the  Holy  Book  of  the  Chris- 
tians mid  all  their  distress.  They  said  when 
they  sat  down  for  a  short  rest,  *  Read  us 
again  out  of  your  Holy  Book  about  the 
weary  and  heavy  laden.'  That  verse,  *  Come 
unto  Me  all  ye  that  labour,'  was  often  all  I 
had  to  give  the  people  by  way  of  comfort. 
The  preachers  were  saying  it  all  day  long. 
It  carried  us  through  the  famine.  It  was  the 
verse  of  the  ingathering.  We  all  needed  it ; 
for  even  the  strongest  among  us  sometimes 
felt  their  courage  sinking."  ^ 

1  John  E.  Clough,  "  Social  Christianity  in  the  Orient,"  p.  248. 


GOD   SEEKING   MAN  lOI 

No  revelation  of  God  to  man  can  be  satisfy- 
ing and  final  until  it  is  personal.  Jesus  came 
revealing  in  Himself  the  way  of  grace  and  of 
glory.  Here  is  truth  interpreted  in  terms  of 
life.  **  And  the  Word  became  flesh  and  dwelt 
among  us,"  writes  the  evangelist,  '*  and  we  be- 
held His  glory,  the  glory  as  of  the  only  begot- 
ten from  the  Father  full  of  grace  and  truth." 

It  became  necessary,  in  the  order  of  reve- 
lation, that  there  should  be  another  epiphany 
— that  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  He  also  comes  in 
person,  but  not  in  the  flesh.  He  interprets 
and  communicates  the  thought  and  purpose 
of  God  to  every  man  according  to  his  faith 
and  capacity  to  receive.  For  if  it  is  the 
Spirit  of  God  that  searcheth  all  things,  even 
the  deep  things  of  God,  then  it  must  be  by 
the  Spirit  of  God  that  His  own  deep  purpose 
for  man  is  to  be  revealed. 

It  is  a  communication  based  upon  fellow- 
ship ;  a  revelation  growing  out  of  communion 
with  the  divine  Spirit.  The  higher  minister- 
ing in  holy  things  to  the  intelligence  of  the 
lower,  that  the  lower  may  in  turn  apprehend 
and  grow  into  the  likeness  of  the  higher. 
How  long  it  has  taken  to  realize  God's 
yearning  to  manifest  Himself  to  man.  How 
long  has  man,  whose  nature  is  to  seek  God, 
been  standing  upon  the  shores  of  a  vast  sea 


I02  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT 

of  divine  love,  all  encompassing,  the  depth 
and  breadth  of  which  remained  hidden 
through  the  ages  and  held  things  unknown 
to  the  rulers  of  this  world.  '*  Things  which 
eye  saw  not,  and  ear  heard  not,  and  which 
entered  not  into  the  heart  of  man,  whatsoever 
things  God  prepared  for  them  that  love  Him. 
But  unto  us  God  revealed  them  through  the 
Spirit." 

**  For  my  part,  holding,  as  I  do,  that  nature 
itself  is  divinely  constituted  and  cannot  but 
be  closely  akin  to  and  pervaded  by  the 
supernatural  element,  and  that  every  for- 
ward movement  in  human  history  and  ex- 
perience has  its  origin  and  impulse  in  the 
purpose  and  power  of  God,  I  cannot  but  be 
convinced  that  our  life  of  to-day  is  more 
thoroughly  pervaded  by  supernatural  forces 
than  was  ever  any  age  of  miracle.  The  eye 
may  not  see  and  the  ear  may  not  hear  it ; 
but  the  truest  and  most  real  things  do  not 
make  their  voices  to  be  heard  in  the  streets, 
and  are  not  blazoned  in  lines  of  fire  across 
the  sky.  I  do  not  believe  in  *  natural  law  in 
the  spiritual  world,'  but  I  have  an  invincible 
faith  in  spiritual  law  in  the  natural  world. 
In  taking  account,  therefore,  of  the  Spirit's 
work,  while  recognizing  the  added  resources 
furnished  in  the  incarnation  and  the  enlarged 


GOD  SEEKING   MAN  103 

power  of  human  life,  we  need  not  go  beyond 
the  ordered  methods  of  divine  action  known 
in  all  previous  history."  ^ 

It  is  His  dispensation.  He  has  come,  and 
silently  but  surely  is  seeking  and  reaching 
the  hearts  of  men.  With  what  calm,  but 
masterful  insistence  has  the  Holy  Spirit 
sought  to  reveal  God's  will.  More  insistent 
than  the  light  which  searches  the  dark  places 
of  the  earth  to  illuminate  ragged  ravine  and 
winding  canyon  at  the  dawn  of  day.  More 
powerful  than  the  tide  whose  swelling  bosom 
floats  every  craft  and  touches  every  shore ; 
the  onward  push  of  which  no  imperious 
command  can  stay. 

"  For  while  the  tired  waves,  vainly  breaking, 
Seem  here  no  painful  inch  to  gain, 
Far  back,  through  creeks  and  inlets  making. 
Comes  silent,  flooding  in,  the  main." 

What  shall  we  say  concerning  such  match- 
less grace  and  infinite  love  ?  What  can  we 
say  ?  We  bow  our  heads  reverently,  adore, 
and  remember  the  words  of  Jehovah — ''  Be 
still,  and  know  that  I  am  God." 

He  is  in  truth  a  Person  ever  seeking  to 
communicate    Himself  to  man.     An  imper- 

» Bishop  Alpheus  W.  Wilson,  «•  The  Witnesses  to  Christ,'= 
pp.  192-193. 


104  THE   HOLY  SPIRIT 

sonal  God  must  necessarily  be  materialistic 
in  nature,  and  fatalistic  in  conception.  An 
impersonal  God  is  no  God  at  all.  It  is  only- 
force,  and  man  lands  himself  thereby  in  athe- 
ism and  despair.  The  very  fact  that  atheists 
are  so  rare  is  evidence  in  itself  of  the  over- 
whelming belief  of  mankind  in  a  personal 
God.  When  man  worships  God  in  spirit 
and  in  truth,  it  is  the  human  spirit  reaching 
after  the  divine,  communicating  with  the 
divine  Spirit,  and  seeking  to  be  filled  with 
the  divine  Spirit  who  alone  is  able  to  help 
man  fulfill  his  own  true  life. 

If  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  was  the  promise 
of  the  Father,  and  who  assumed,  after  the 
ascension  of  Jesus,  intimate  relations  with 
the  apostles  and  believers,  had  been  a  mere 
impersonal  force  there  would  have  been  a 
return  not  to  Judaism,  nor  to  deistic  belief 
at  best,  but  a  lapse  into  atheism  or  a  panthe- 
istic cult.  The  consequence  would  have 
been  a  falling  back  upon  the  part  of  man- 
kind instead  of  an  advance.  When  His  per- 
sonality and  office  are  ignored  we  may  ex- 
pect a  retrogression  in  morals  and  religion. 
*'  It  were  mockery  for  the  Son  of  God,  after 
the  tender  and  close  personal  relation  with 
His  disciples,  to  have  promised  another 
Comforter,    unless    another    person    of    the 


GOD  SEEKING  MAN  105 

Holy  Trinity  were  to  hold  even  more  inti- 
mate and  sacred  relations  with  man."  * 

Our  religion  is  missionary  not  because  of 
any  abstract  truth  it  may  contain,  or  ethical 
teaching  it  employs,  however  vitally  such 
truth  or  ethics  seem  to  be  related  to  men 
and  society.  A  missionary  religion  must 
have  a  dynamic.  There  must  be  a  vital  ex- 
perience which  is  central  and  controlling  in 
those  who  propagate  it ;  a  conviction  that 
other  men  need,  and  must  have,  both  truth 
and  an  experience ;  and  a  motive  powerful 
and  impelling  which  centres  in  the  one  and 
only  Person  who  is  sufficient  in  Himself  to 
save  the  world. 

In  the  propagation  of  such  a  religion  the 
Holy  Spirit  shares  in  the  redemptive  scheme 
with  the  Father  and  the  Son,  and  qualifies 
man  by  illuminating  and  energizing  him  for 
his  part  in  the  work.  The  Holy  Spirit  does 
not  seek  to  demonstrate  the  truth  by  argu- 
ment, or  enforce  it  by  authority.  He  does 
His  work  by  testimony.  He  stands,  as  it 
were,  a  witness  to  the  truth,  and  the  spiri- 
tual embodiment  of  it — "  the  Spirit  of  Truth, 
which  proceedeth  from  the  Father,"  of  whom 
Jesus  said,  **  He  shall  testify  of  Me."    He  does 

1  Bishop   E.    R.    Hendrix,   "  The    Personality  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,"  p.  xi. 


Io6  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT 

not  come  to  spiritualize  truth.  He  comes 
to  spiritualize  man  that  he  may  apprehend 
the  truth,  have  the  eyes  of  his  understanding 
enlightened,  and  know  what  is  the  exceeding 
greatness  of  God's  power  to  usward  who  be- 
lieve. 

Truth  thus  apprehended  takes  possession 
of  a  man.  It  is  set  on  fire  of  the  Spirit,  and 
man's  soul  begins  to  blaze.  Man's  spirit  be- 
comes the  candle  of  the  Lord.  He  is  con- 
tent, like  John  the  Baptist,  to  burn  to  the 
socket,  and  be  consumed  if  he  can  give  his 
"  Master's  nobility  the  chance  to  utter  itself." 
Here  was  the  secret  of  Henry  Martyn's  de- 
votion when  he  cried,  "  Now,  let  me  burn  out 
for  Christ."  Whether  in  the  wilderness  of 
Judea  or  on  the  burning  sands  of  Persia  it 
must  be  a  messenger  who  possesses  the 
dynamic  because  sent  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Then  will  be  fulfilled  with  power  the  words 
of  Jesus,  **  Ye  also  shall  bear  witness." 

It  is  said  that  upon  the  table-lands  of  Asia 
Minor,  the  women  may  be  seen  at  dawn  of 
day  going  out-of-doors  and  looking  up  at 
their  neighbours'  chimneys.  They  would 
see  the  one  out  of  which  the  smoke  is  com- 
ing. Thither  they  go  to  borrow  live  coals 
with  which  to  kindle  a  fire  in  their  own 
homes.     Do  men  watch  thus  our  lives  ?     If 


GOD   SEEKING   MAN  107 

in  our  hearts  the  Holy  Ghost  has  kindled  the 
sacred  fire,  shall  they  not  come  to  us  for 
warmth  and  inspiration  ?  How  tragic  if  turn- 
ing" to  us  they  find  smokeless  chimneys  and 
nothing  but  dead  ashes. 

The  Holy  Spirit  is  the  gift  of  God.  He  is 
**  the  promise  of  the  Father."  We  do  not  so 
much  need  to  seek,  as  to  put  ourselves  in  an 
attitude  to  receive  Him.  Jesus  said,  *'  Re- 
ceive ye  the  Holy  Spirit."  The  bestowment 
of  such  a  gift,  however,  is  upon  the  require- 
ment that  the  necessary  conditions  must  be 
met.  Faith  must  accept  without  question 
what  God  offers,  and  go  in  the  strength  of 
what  is  given.  We  then  may  expect  yet 
larger  gifts.  The  Father  is  generous  in  His 
promise  and  lavish  in  His  bestowments,  but 
never  wasteful.  Neither  does  He  cast  pearls 
before  swine.  To  seek  the  gift  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  from  a  low  or  selfish  motive  may 
grieve  Him  and  deprive  ourselves  of  the 
sympathetic  cooperation  of  the  greatest  per- 
sonal force  in  the  universe. 

In  this  study  of  spiritual  dynamics  we 
reach  the  following  conclusions  in  relation  to 
the  Paraclete.  The  Holy  Spirit  was  a  dis- 
tinct prophecy  in  the  Old  Testament  and  a 
definite  promise  in  the  New.  As  God  sent  the 
Son  into  the  world  to  reveal  the  Father,  so 


I08  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT 

has  He  sent  the  Holy  Spirit  to  testify  to  the 
Son.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  a  person,  and  that 
personality  is  a  cardinal  fact,  which  in  deal- 
ing with  Him  should  never  be  lost  sight  of. 
The  transformation  of  the  life  and  character 
of  men  is  a  standing  illustration  of  His  per- 
sonality and  power.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  a 
sensitive  person  and  can  be  grieved,  resisted, 
repelled  and  even  thwarted  in  His  work  by 
unbelieving  and  disloyal  hearts. 

He  is  in  the  world  to  convince  of  sin.  If 
He  brooded  over  chaotic  nature,  He  can  and 
does  brood  over  a  dull,  unenlightened  mind 
to  which  God  has  not  yet  been  revealed.  He 
reaches  men  in  His  own  way — "The  wind 
bloweth  where  it  will,  and  thou  hearest  the 
voice  thereof,  but  knowest  not  whence  it 
Cometh,  and  whither  it  goeth  :  so  is  every 
one  that  is  born  of  the  Spirit."  His  work 
cannot  be  confined  to  geographical  areas  or 
conventional  methods.  The  Holy  Spirit  pre- 
pares the  hearts  of  men,  brings  them  to- 
gether, times  events,  develops  leadership, 
shapes  the  course  of  nations,  makes  ready 
the  soil  for  the  Word  of  God. 

There  is  a  marked  continuity  and  progress 
in  the  program  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  not  only 
in  His  administration  and  work  in  the  Apos- 
tolic Church,  but  in  the  more  modern  mis- 


GOD  SEEKING  MAN  109 

sionary  movements  which  clearly  demon- 
strate His  personal  presence  and  agency.  If 
the  Holy  Spirit  expresses  the  thought  of  God 
in  the  inspiration  of  the  Word,  so  will  He 
express  the  will  of  God  in  the  application  of 
that  Word.  God  seeks  men  full  of  faith  and 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  do  His  work.  If  they 
have  not  received  the  Spirit,  He  is  ready  to 
bestow  the  enduement  if  they  will  but  place 
themselves  in  an  attitude  to  receive. 

The  progress  of  missions  and  of  the  King- 
dom may  be  retarded  by  the  failure  to  recog- 
nize the  office  and  power  of  the  Spirit.  The 
Holy  Spirit  has  special  charge  of  the  Church 
and  its  missionary  work.  Does  the  Church 
realize  and  live  up  to  it?  It  is  a  serious 
matter  when  the  question  is  raised,  *'  Has 
there  not  been  more  earnest  expectation 
among  the  nations  who  sit  in  darkness,  than 
of  consuming  zeal  among  those  who  have 
seen  the  great  light  ?  " 

The  unity  of  the  Spirit  among  believers 
was  that  for  which  Jesus  prayed  in  His 
intercessory  prayer :  *'  Neither  for  these  only 
do  I  pray,  but  for  them  also  that  believe  on 
Me  through  their  word  ;  that  they  may  all  be 
one  ;  even  as  Thou,  Father,  art  in  Me,  and  I 
in  Thee,  that  they  also  may  be  in  us ;  that  the 
world  may  believe  that  Thou  didst  send  Me." 


no  THE   HOLY   SPIRIT 

Such  unity  should  be  the  fruitage  and  crown- 
ing expression  of  a  dispensation  of  grace. 
The  Church  should  be  in  a  state  of  prayerful 
expectancy  for  a  mighty  outpouring  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  This  is  His  dispensation.  There 
was  never  more  complete  preparation  for  His 
manifestation  and  power,  never  more  wide- 
spread need,  never  a  more  opportune  moment 
for  His  unifying  work. 

May  not  the  Holy  Spirit  be  compared  to 
some  mighty  master  hand  wielding  the  loom 
of  the  world  ?  Golden  threads,  under  His 
skilled  and  sympathetic  touch,  are  being 
woven  into  the  fabric  of  the  nations.  Men 
may  forget  their  common  Fatherhood,  and 
do  violence  to  their  heaven-born  sense  of 
brotherhood,  but  sooner  or  later  the  solidarity 
of  the  race,  the  cohesion  of  society,  the  main- 
tenance of  a  Christian  civilization,  and  the 
establishment  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  will 
be  consummated.  The  divine  shuttle  in  the 
hand  of  the  Master  Spirit  will  link  this  thread 
with  that,  until  the  world  of  men  has  been 
woven  into  the  mysterious  union  of  the  world 
of  spirits  made  perfect. 


LECTURE  III 
PRAYER :  MAN  SEEKING  GOD 


LECTURE  III 

PRAYER  :  MAN  SEEKING  GOD 

PRAYER  is  man  seeking  God.  Man 
has  alv/ays  been  seeking  God.  It 
may  have  been  a  mute  and  uncon- 
scious groping  in  darkness,  but  it  was  a  feel- 
ing after  light.  The  wise  men  saw  His  star 
in  the  East  and  sought  to  worship  Him.  The 
shepherds  watched  and  prayed  upon  the 
plains  of  Bethlehem  and  found  the  Lord  of 
Glory.  The  Roman  empire  was  at  peace 
and  in  a  hush  of  expectancy ;  the  Jewish 
nation  had  about  it  an  atmosphere  of  Mes- 
sianic hope — one  laden  with  promise,  and  the 
Christ  came. 

Prayer  is  ascending  desire  and  brings  de- 
scending grace.  **  All  things  whatsoever  ye 
shall  ask  in  prayer  believing,  ye  shall  receive." 
The  desire  moves  Godward,  the  response 
returns  manward.  The  pondering  of  God's 
thoughts  brings  the  one,  and  reliance  upon 
the  strength  of  His  friendship  insures  the 
other.  **  Delight  thyself  in  the  Lord,  and  He 
shall  give  thee  the  desires  of  thine  heart." 
"3 


114  PRAYER 

Jacob's  dream  became  to  him  a  vision  of 
an  earthly  and  heavenly  exchange  of  mes- 
sengers. 

Prayer  makes  God  real.  Ours  is  an  age 
in  which  men  seek  the  reality  of  things.  It 
is  not  an  age  of  shams.  Men  despise  shams 
more  and  more.  They  want  to  know  the 
truth.  There  is  an  intensity  about  the  search 
which  is  inspiring.  They  seek  the  soul  of 
things.  It  may  not  always  be  a  reverent 
search,  but  sincere  desire  will  make  them 
more  reverent.  There  is  more  prayer  of  this 
sort  than  the  world  knows  of.  Add  one 
factor  only — God — and  there  will  be  no  more 
groping ;  it  will  be  a  swift  journey  from  dark- 
ness into  light. 

Man  in  all  ages  would  realize  God.  To 
fail  is  to  lose  himself  utterly  and  all  of  faith 
and  hope.  God  on  the  other  hand  would  be 
made  real  to  man  that  he  might  reach  Him  at 
the  point  of  deepest  need.  It  is  through  man 
the  God-given  message  must  go.  "  Whom 
shall  I  send,  and  who  will  go  for  us  ?  "  has 
been  the  word  of  Jehovah  before  and  since 
Isaiah's  day.  "  Here  am  I,  send  me,"  should 
be  the  response  of  every  true  soul  who  has  a 
spark  of  desire  to  reach  the  unreached  man 
— the  man  who  prays,  and  yet  save  for  heart 
hunger  scarce  knows  why. 


MAN   SEEKING  GOD  II5 

Krapf,  the  great  African  missionary  and 
explorer,  gives  the  prayer  of  a  pygmy  to  the 
supreme  "  Yer  "  in  these  pathetic  words  : 

**  Yea,  if  thou  dost  really  exist,  why  dost 
thou  let  us  be  slain  ?  We  ask  thee  not  for 
food,  for  we  live  only  on  snakes,  ants,  and 
mice.  Thou  hast  made  us ;  why  dost  thou 
let  us  be  trodden  down  ? "  ^ 

How  can  a  man  have  faith  to  whom  God 
is  unintelligible  ?  How  can  a  man  be  strong 
who  is  convinced  that  God  is  weak  ?  To  be- 
lieve that  He  has  forgotten  us  is  to  fatally 
weaken  our  hold  upon  life.  Sabatier  is  right 
when  he  says,  "  Religion  is  a  prayer  for  life." 
This  is  true  of  primitive  religion  even,  and  of 
primitive  life.  The  Christian  religion  is  a 
soulful  desire  for  immortaUty.  It  is  a  prayer 
that  is  ever  reaching  up  after  God  as  the 
source  of  eternal  life — life  that  is  freer  because 
God  is  truth,  richer  because  God  is  love, 
higher  because  God  is  holiness,  and  the  per- 
fecter  of  every  lofty  aspiration  and  of  every 
noble  ideal.  "For  this  cause  We  also,  since 
the  day  we  heard  it,  do  not  cease  to  pray  for 
you,  and  to  desire  that  ye  might  be  filled  with 
the  knowledge  of  His  will  in  all  wisdom  and 
spiritual  understanding  ;  that  ye  might  walk 

1  J.    Ludwig  Krapf,  "  Travels  and  Missionary  Journeys   in 
East  Central  Africa." 


Il6  PRAYER 

worthy  of  the  Lord  unto  all  pleasing,  being 
fruitful  in  every  good  work,  and  increasing  in 
the  knowledge  of  God."  Prayer  that  breathes 
aspiration  and  intercession  like  this,  and  a 
religion  that  can  create  such  an  atmosphere  of 
prayer  must  bring  God  down  to  man,  and 
lift  man  up  to  God.  Dean  Goulburn  writes, 
"  He  who  embraces  in  his  prayer  the 
widest  circle  of  his  fellow  creatures  is  most  in 
sympathy  with  the  mind  of  God." 

Jesus  set  us  an  example  in  the  exercise  of 
prayer  which  becomes  both  an  obligation  and 
an  inspiration.  It  is  not  so  much  the  ex- 
ample, however,  as  it  is  the  tremendous  fact 
that  He  prayed.  He  spent  much  of  His  work- 
ing life  in  prayer,  which  carries  with  it  the 
force  of  an  irresistible  argument  in  favour  of 
prayer.  It  was  not  a  mere  matter  of  personal 
choice,  but  one  of  primal  necessity  ;  not  a 
question  of  temperament,  but  obedience  to 
the  vital  and  fundamental  law  of  His  spiri- 
tual life.  He  could  not  live  and  work  without 
it.  To  undertake  to  build  the  Kingdom  of 
God  without  prayer  was  to  undertake  a 
superhuman  enterprise  without  consultation 
with  the  Architect  of  the  ages  who  had 
formed  His  purpose  and  laid  His  plans  be- 
fore the  foundation  of  the  world. 

Prayer   makes  life  radiant.     It  feeds  with 


MAN  SEEKING  GOD  1 17 

beaten  oil  the  lamp  of  the  soul.  It  kindles 
the  inner  light  which  chases  away  all  shadows 
and  dissipates  all  fear.  Doubt  does  not  con- 
demn a  man — hypocrisy  does.  It  is  but  a 
step  from  honest  doubt  to  vital  faith.  A 
vital  faith  leads  to  fellowship  with  God,  and 
such  fellowship  brings  down  the  divine 
Spirit  into  human  life,  making  it  glow  with 
the  sense  of  reality  and  the  radiance  of 
a  holy  joy.  ''They  looked  unto  Him  and 
were  radiant."  How  else  can  we  explain 
the  glow  upon  the  face  of  Moses  as  he  came 
down  from  the  mount  of  God.  It  was  the  in- 
terpenetrating light  of  that  supernatural  pres- 
ence which  after  the  lapse  of  twenty  centuries 
glorified  our  Lord  upon  the  mount  of  trans- 
figuration and  w^hich  set  on  fire  the  pencil  of 
Rafael  in  his  immortal  cartoon. 

Prayer  is  the  secret  of  an  expanding  life. 
True  prayer  is  never  self-centred.  It  moves 
out  seeking  the  objective,  with  desire  to  bless. 
It  has  an  enlarging  motive  and  a  growing 
purpose.  Selfish  prayer  is  always  untrue  to 
the  highest  interests  of  one's  own  life. 
**  Neglect  of  prayer  is  slow  but  certain  sui- 
cide." A  prayerless  soul  has  a  contracting 
life  which  ends  in  paralysis  of  faith  and  en- 
deavour. "  The  spiritual  giants  of  every  age 
have  been  men  of  prayer." 


Il8  PRAYER 

It  was  said  of  Queen  Mary  that  she  feared 
the  prayers  of  John  Knox  more  than  she  did 
the  armies  of  her  enemies.  And  yet  Knox 
had  breadth  of  soul  and  an  ever  expanding 
vision.  The  day  before  his  death  he  called 
his  wife  and  said,  "  Go,  read  me  that  Scrip- 
ture where  I  first  cast  my  anchor  !  "  She 
read  him  the  seventeenth  chapter  of  John. 
He  gave  his  last  hours  to  intercession  "  for 
the  world  lying  in  sin,  for  the  great  reforma- 
tion, for  the  Church,  and  for  the  future 
triumph  of  the  Gospel." 

Prayer  is  the  key  to  power.  It  is  the  se- 
cret of  efficiency  in  the  Kingdom  of  God. 
The  highest  efBciency  in  spiritual  life  depends 
upon  and  grows  out  of  the  constancy  of  our 
**  communion  with  the  eternal  world."  There 
can  be  no  sustained  ministry  of  sympathy 
and  help  without  it.  No  one  understood  this 
better  than  Jesus,  and  endowed  with  a  divine 
nature  as  He  was,  none  of  His  apostles  drew 
such  drafts  in  prayer  as  He  did  upon  the  re- 
sources of  the  spiritual  kingdom. 

The  constant  drain  upon  Jesus,  physical 
and  spiritual,  was  something  we  are  unable  to 
measure.  It  is  certain  He  paid  the  price  for 
His  incessant  labours  of  mercy,  work  of  heal- 
ing, daily  ministry  to  the  multitudes,  and  con- 
stant instruction  of  His  disciples.     Added  to 


MAN  SEEKING  GOD  II9 

this  was  the  sting  and  burn  of  shameless 
hypocrisy,  or  open  hatred,  upon  the  part  of 
scribes  and  Pharisees.  Every  cry  of  a  blind 
man,  or  appeal  of  a  leper,  drew  upon  His 
sympathy,  and  every  miracle  of  healing  made 
a  fresh  and  insistent  draft  upon  His  nerve 
force.  Sympathy,  when  expressed  without 
stint,  is  a  most  exhausting  thing.  It  was  es- 
pecially so  with  Him  whose  eye  could  pierce 
below  the  surface  of  conventional  life,  and 
sound  the  depths  of  sin  and  guilt  which  were 
the  cause  of  the  suffering  He  sought  to  re- 
lieve. 

A  man  sick  of  the  palsy  is  brought  on  a 
litter.  With  one  pitying  gaze  into  the  helpless 
man's  life,  His  words  are,  "  Son,  be  of  good 
cheer ;  thy  sins  be  forgiven  thee."  When 
the  scribes  accused  Him  of  blasphemy,  He 
adds,  "  But  that  ye  may  know  that  the  Son 
of  Man  hath  power  on  earth  to  forgive  sins. 
Arise,  take  up  thy  bed  and  go  into  thine 
house." 

A  woman  has  suffered  many  things  of 
many  physicians,  and  spent  all  that  she  had. 
She  touches  His  garment,  saying  to  herself, 
"  If  I  may  but  touch  His  clothes  I  shall  be 
whole."  The  fountain  of  her  trouble  was 
dried  up,  and  she  was  healed.  And  Jesus 
knowing  in  Himself  that  virtue  had  gone  out 


I20  PRAYER 

of  Him,  turned  Him  about  in  the  press,  and 
said,  "Who  touched  My  clothes?  " 

Shall  we  call  it  supersensitiveness  ?  It  was 
rather  the  superman  lavishly  expending  Him- 
self. Yearning  with  compassion  He  is  ready 
to  empty  Himself  and  to  say,  "  The  Son  of 
Man  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to 
minister."  He  it  is  of  whom  the  prophet 
said,  "  Himself  took  our  infirmities  and  bare 
our  sicknesses." 

A  marvel  it  was  that  Jesus  stood  the  strain 
of  all  this  for  three  years.  Prayer  sus- 
tained Him.  It  was  through  prayer  that  He 
strengthened  His  consciousness  of  God  and 
deepened  His  sense  of  human  need.  Prayer 
was  the  most  real  thing  in  His  life.  It  helped 
Him  to  a  realization  of  Himself  and  His 
mission — the  God-man — divine  in  sacrifice, 
human  in  service.  Conscious  He  was  doing 
the  will  of  God,  prayer  was  His  source  of 
strength,  and  means  of  communion  with  the 
Father  whose  will  He  constantly  sought  to 
fulfill.  At  Bethany,  and  in  the  gardens  of 
Olivet,  on  the  slopes  of  Hermon,  and  in  the 
valley  of  Siloam,  He  had  His  trysting  places. 
He  went  for  prayer  as  the  shades  of  night 
were  falling,  or  arose  a  great  while  before  day, 
for  strength  in  a  forward  gaze.  It  was  in 
these  hours  He  sought  and  found  refuge  or 


MAN   SEEKING  GOD  121 

refreshment  of  soul.  **  Prayer  is  nothing 
else,"  says  Brother  Lawrence,  **  but  a  sense 
of  God's  presence." 

The  powers  of  a  stout  young  Galilean 
peasant,  however  much  inured  to  hardship, 
were  scarcely  equal  to  the  physical  exhaus- 
tion ;  much  less  when  the  sin  of  a  lost  world 
pressed  constantly  upon  Him.  Added  to 
this  was  the  consciousness  that  He  steadily 
approached  the  hour  when  He  must  tread 
the  wine-press  alone.  But  in  the  seasons  of 
intercessory  prayer  with  an  ever-deepening 
sense  of  God's  presence  He  could  say  in  per- 
fect confidence,  **Oh,  righteous  Father,  the 
world  hath  not  known  Thee  ;  but  I  have 
known  Thee,  and  these  have  known  that 
Thou  hast  sent  Me." 

The  resources  of  the  spiritual  kingdom 
yield  only  to  importunate  prayer.  There 
must  be  patient  waiting  and  vigorous  wres- 
ding.  Both  are  essential  to  that  princely 
character  which  is  life's  greatest  asset. 
"  They  that  wait  upon  the  Lord  shall  renew 
their  strength," — change  their  strength  from 
the  earthly  to  the  spiritual,  from  potential  to 
actual,  from  the  human  to  the  divine.  As  in 
the  realm  of  nature  so  in  the  kingdom  of 
grace,  mysterious  and  secret  forces  that  are 
locked  and  hidden  yield  themselves  only  to 


122  PRAYER 

insistent  desire  and  importunate  demand 
Real  prayer  brings  a  realization  of  the  pres- 
ence of  God  and  an  unveiling  of  the  soul  in 
that  presence  which  clarifies  vision,  purifies 
motive  and  energizes  life.  It  was  the  pa- 
triarch's strenuous  wrestling  at  Peniel  until 
the  break  of  day  that  brought  the  realization 
of  his  own  need  and  of  the  divine  Presence ; 
that  changed  the  countenance  of  Esau,  saved 
his  company,  created  an  epoch  in  his  own  life, 
and  secured  for  himself  that  remarkable  state- 
ment— "  Thy  name  shall  be  called  no  more 
Jacob,  but  Israel  ;  for  as  a  prince  hast  thou 
power  with  God  and  with  men,  and  hast 
prevailed." 

This  sense  of  the  nearness  of  God  is  beauti- 
fully illustrated  in  a  story  of  Horace  Bushnell. 
*'  He  was  found  to  be  suffering  from  an  in- 
curable disease.  One  evening  the  Rev. 
Joseph  Twichell  visited  him,  and,  as  they  sat 
together  under  the  starry  sky,  Bushnell  said  : 
'  One  of  us  ought  to  pray.'  Twichell  asked 
Bushnell  to  do  so,  and  Bushnell  began  his 
prayer ;  burying  his  face  in  the  earth,  he 
poured  out  his  heart  until,  said  Twichell,  in 
recalling  the  incident,  *  I  was  afraid  to  stretch 
out  my  hand  in  the  darkness  lest  I  should 
touch  God.'  " ' 

^  E.  M,  Bounds,  "  Purpose  in  Prayer,"  p.  40. 


MAN  SEEKING  GOD  123 

God's  power  is  both  available  and  inex- 
haustible. His  greatest  stores  of  spiritual 
power  are  yet  in  reserve.  Conditions  were 
never  so  ripe  as  now  for  the  outpouring  of 
the  divine  Spirit.  It  is  His  will  that  we 
receive  that  power.  Why  not  have  it  ?  Why 
not  have  Him — the  spirit  of  power?  Obedi- 
ence is  the  king-bolt  to  the  laws  of  His 
Kingdom,  and  faith  the  master-key  to  the 
storehouse.  Failure  attends  our  prayers  be- 
cause they  lack  faith  and  are  unintelligent. 
Few  men  understand  real  prayer  because  they 
have  neglected  to  study  the  conditions  of 
God's  power.  If  we  would  receive  it  must 
be  on  God's  terms,  not  ours.  **  The  prayer 
of  faith  is  the  only  power  in  the  universe  to 
which  the  great  Jehovah  yields.  Prayer  is 
the  sovereign  remedy." 

A  copper  wire  is  suspended  in  mid  air. 
Its  origin  is  somewhere  out  of  sight  in  yon 
mountain  range  to  the  east,  and  it  disappears 
over  the  plains  towards  the  setting  sun.  We 
may  catch  its  gleam,  conjecture  its  source, 
discuss  its  objective,  even  estimate  the  volt- 
age and  power  of  the  current  it  can  carry, 
but  all  to  no  purpose,  if  there  be  no  contact 
of  wire  with  the  source  of  electric  supply.  Is 
it  not  so  with  our  relation  to  the  purpose  and 
power  of  God  ?     How  unintelligent  our  effort 


124  PRAYER 

to  appropriate  God's  power  as  a  working 
force,  and  yet  His  power  is  available,  without 
limit,  and  at  our  disposal  for  the  work  of  His 
Kingdom. 

The  electrician  has  a  lesson  for  us.  He 
builds  a  laboratory,  equips  it  with  tools, 
learns  how  to  use  them,  studies  the  nature 
of  electricity  as  a  force,  studies  it  by  day, 
dreams  about  it  by  night,  denies  himself 
food,  persists  for  months  and  years,  impover- 
ishes himself,  subjects  himself  to  the  ridicule 
of  his  friends  and  the  world  calls  him  a  fool, 
but,  at  last,  he  emerges  in  triumph  with  a 
great  secret  wrested  from  the  heart  of  nature. 

How  is  it  with  the  average  Christian  and 
prayer  ?  He  has  no  oratory.  If  he  has,  he 
rarely  enters.  He  fails  to  close  the  door. 
He  takes  things  for  granted,  or  works  by  fits 
and  starts.  He  denies  himself  nothing.  He 
expects  nothing.  He  has  no  enthusiasms. 
He  doubts  from  the  beginning.  He  makes  a 
toy  machine  and  plays  with  it,  and  wonders 
that  he  gets  no  results. 

There  is  no  investment  in  the  Kingdom 
like  the  prayer  of  faith.  True  prayer  does 
not  rest  with  the  present.  It  draws  upon 
the  stored  riches  of  the  past;  projects  itself 
into  the  future,  and  may  run  in  advance  of 
us   through   all  time.     '*  Prayers  are  death- 


MAN  SEEKING  GOD  125 

less — prayers  outlive  the  lives  of  those  who 
uttered  them ;  outlive  a  generation  ;  outlive 
an  age  ;  outlive  a  world."  The  prayers  of 
the  saints  of  all  ages  continue  as  incense  be- 
fore the  throne.  The  reserves  of  power  and 
working  force  we  have  to-day  may  be  the 
fruit  of  persistent,  prevailing  prayer  upon 
the  part  of  faithful  souls  of  yesterday — of 
generations  past.  Failure  upon  our  part  in 
intercession  may  result  in  disaster  to  gener- 
ations yet  unborn.  How  great  the  privilege, 
how  tremendous  the  responsibility  ! 

To  us  is  committed  the  work  of  evangelizing 
the  world.  In  such  an  enterprise,  the  home 
base  is  much  more  a  base  line  for  interces- 
sory prayer  than  it  is  for  monetary  supply. 
As  important  as  it  may  seem  for  money 
power  behind  the  missionary  enterprise,  the 
necessity  for  prayer  power  is  infinitely  greater. 
Prayer  secures  the  labourers,  money  cannot. 
They  would  be  worthless  if  it  could.  Shek- 
els and  hirelings  cannot  establish  the  King- 
dom of  God.  It  requires  men  who  cannot 
be  bought.  Prayer  that  wins  battles  at 
home  will  secure  victory  on  the  firing  line 
abroad.  Defeat  in  prayer  at  headquarters 
will  mean  disaster  in  the  trenches.  To  the 
lonely  sentry  on  picket  duty  in  home  mis- 
sions or  in  the  regions  beyond,  neglect  of 


126  PRAYER 

prayer  in  the  Church  may  result  in  discour- 
agement and  despair.  We  have  no  right  to 
send  missionaries  to  the  firing  line  unless  we 
mean  to  back  them  up  by  intercession.  It  is 
perilous  for  them  if  we  fail  to  pray  ;  for  us  it 
may  mean  condemnation  and  greater  peril. 

Faith  in  the  possibility  of  the  redemption 
of  the  race  is  born  of  God.  That  kind  of  as- 
surance always  is.  It  is  man  who  staggers 
at  the  recoverability  of  his  fellow  man.  Sin 
has  so  wrought  in  our  spiritual  frame  that 
the  organ  of  faith  is  weakened.  How  noble 
a  figure  the  patriarch,  that  peerless  inter- 
cessor, who,  "  when  he  was  called  to  go  out 
into  a  place  which  he  should  after  receive 
for  an  inheritance,  obeyed  ;  and  he  went  out, 
not  knowing  whither  he  went."  Faith  was 
the  basis  for  the  splendid  optimism  with 
which  "  he  looked  for  the  city  which  hath 
the  foundations,  whose  maker  and  builder  is 
God." 

During  Doctor  Mott's  last  visit  to  the  Far 
East,  in  addition  to  representing  the  Contin- 
uation Committee,  he  held  evangelistic  meet- 
ings for  students.  Upon  the  very  day  of 
which  he  speaks,  student  groups  in  forty 
nations  were  remembering  each  other,  and 
especially  the  meetings  in  China  and  the 
Near    East.     His    account    given    at    Lake 


MAN   SEEKING  GOD  127 

Mohonk   is  a  wonderful   illustration  of  the 
power  and  scope  of  intercessory  prayer  : 

"  I  was  at  Tsinanfu,  the  capital  of  Shan- 
tung Province,  on  Sunday,  the  Universal  Day 
of  Prayer  for  Students.  It  was  in  much 
weakness.  I  was  there  under  great  pressure 
and  had  not  had  time  to  make  even  ordinary 
preparation.  I  was  in  the  midst  of  difficul- 
ties the  like  of  which  few  can  understand, 
except  those  who  have  been  in  that  part  of 
the  world.  For  reasons  which  need  not  be 
explained,  I  did  not  have  as  many  helpers 
present  as  under  ordinary  conditions.  One 
can  never  forget  that  Sunday  afternoon. 
Every  word  that  was  being  said  was  being 
interpreted.  There  came  a  hush  upon  the 
heterogeneous  mass  of  Chinese  students  who 
packed  that  place.  There  was  an  evident 
moving  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  between 
five  and  six  hundred  of  those  proud  Chinese 
students  bowed  for  the  first  time  before  the 
Jehovah  of  the  Bible.  Hundreds  of  them 
before  the  meeting  closed  at  dusk — we  had 
to  bring  in  candles,  for  although  the  meeting 
began  in  the  middle  of  the  afternoon  it  con- 
tinued nearly  four  hours — publicly  confessed 
their  purpose  to  become  followers  of  Jesus 
Christ  as  Lord.  Now  I  know  that  there  was 
nothing  evident,  that  there  was  nothing  in 


128  PRAYER 

the  city  of  Tsinanfu  that  could  account  for 
what  took  place  in  that  room ;  but  when  I 
remembered  that  all  over  this  earth  were 
groups,  and  in  some  places  large  companies, 
of  students  making  earnest  intercession  for 
this  and  other  meetings  that  were  in  prog- 
ress at  that  time,  I  found  the  explanation. 
I  have  heard  since  that  similar  experiences 
were  being  had  by  workers  in  the  Near  East 
on  that  very  day.  We  should  utilize  more 
than  we  have  been  doing  this  irresistible 
force  of  prayer  that  has  been  placed  at  our 
disposal." 

The  power,  the  reach,  and  the  efficacy  of 
intercessory  prayer  have  never  been  fully 
tested,  because  never  fullv  realized.  Its 
power  lies  in  the  power  of  God  behind  it, 
and  that  has  not  been  measured.  Its  reach' 
is  bounded  only  by  the  smaller  circle  of 
man's  faith  and  the  larger  circle  of  God's 
grace — and  man  is  always  at  liberty  to  pro- 
ject his  faith,  farther  and  yet  farther,  into 
the  boundless  sea  of  God's  mercy.  Its  effi- 
cacy is  based  upon  words  that  are  more 
secure  than  the  foundations  of  the  earth. 
'•  Hitherto  have  ye  asked  nothing  in  My 
name ;  ask,  and  ye  shall  receive,  that  your 
joy  may  be  made  full." 

No   one  understood  the  efficacy  of  such 


MAN  SEEKING  GOD  1 29 

prayer  better  than  the  "ambassador  in 
chains "  as  he  styles  himself  when,  from 
Rome,  he  urges  the  Ephesian  Church  to 
pray  for  all  the  saints  and  for  him.  **  On 
my  behalf,"  he  writes.  Did  he  not  need 
prayer  more  than  they  all  ?  He  was  almost 
alone  in  a  great  heathen  city,  on  a  distant 
continent,  had  the  care  of  all  the  churches, 
and  had  deliberately  denied  himself  of  Tychi- 
cus,  the  beloved  brother  and  faithful  minis- 
ter, that  he  might  comfort  the  saints  at 
Ephesus.  "  And  on  my  behalf,  that  utter- 
ance may  be  given  unto  me,  in  opening  my 
mouth,  to  make  known  with  boldness  the 
mystery  of  the  Gospel." 

We  enter  with  Christ  in  the  School  of 
Prayer,  and  hearing  Him  make  intercession, 
realize  there  is  a  vast  difference  between  His 
prayers  and  ours.  In  what  does  it  consist? 
Principal  Cairnes  says,  "  It  is  the  difference 
in  spiritual  quality  between  the  Master  and 
His  disciple,  and  is  not  due  to  any  change  in 
God."  Three  elements  more  than  any  others 
gave  power  to  the  prayers  of  Jesus — the  sense 
of  God's  presence,  faith  in  God's  power,  and 
the  consciousness  that  He  was  doing  His  Fa- 
ther's will.  The  quality  of  obedience  with- 
out reservation — of  joyful  acceptance  of  the 
higher  will,  was  always  true  of  His  prayers. 


I30  PRAYER 

It  is  in  the  strength  of  such  an  attitude  of 
obedient  faith  Jesus  could  say  of  the  Spirit 
of  Truth  to  His  disciples,  *'  He  shall  glorify 
Me :  for  He  shall  receive  of  Mine  and  shall 
show  it  unto  you.  Ail  things  that  the  Father 
hath  are  Mine."  There  is  a  quiet  assurance 
in  such  words  which  places  power,  authority 
and  dominion  under  His  feet.  If  we  who  are 
called  by  Him  to  this  ministry  of  intercession 
shall  realize  God,  have  faith  in  God,  and  do 
the  Father's  will,  we  shall  receive  grace  ac- 
cording to  the  measure  of  the  gift  of  Christ, 
and  shall  with  Him  lead  captivity  captive, 
give  gifts  unto  men,  and  claim  a  world  re- 
deemed through  the  mighty  working  of 
God's  Spirit. 

The  calm  assurance  of  Jesus  as  He  stands 
before  the  tomb  of  Lazarus  comes  to  us  from 
the  regions  of  the  sublimest  faith.  There  is 
nothing  beyond  but  God.  Where  in  history 
of  man,  or  story  of  angels,  shall  we  find  such 
power  in  prayer  ?  Mary  said,  **  Lord,  if  Thou 
hadst  been  here,  my  brother  had  not  died." 
In  deep  sympathy  as  she  was  with  His  char- 
acter and  mission,  there  was  a  note  of  regret 
— He  had  come  too  late.  Martha  said, 
"  Lord,  by  this  time  he  decayeth :  for  he 
hath  been  dead  four  days."  Here  was  the 
deeper  note  of  despair — He  had  come  face 


MAN   SEEKING  GOD  13 1 

to  face  with  the  impossible.  They  were  con- 
fronted by  both  death  and  corruption.  Jesus 
repHed  in  tone  of  mild  reproach,  "  Said  I  not 
unto  thee  that,  if  thou  wouldst  believe,  thou 
should  see  the  glory  of  God?" 

Then  they  took  away  the  stone  from  the 
place  where  the  dead  was  laid.  And  now 
before  the  crowning  act,  the  test  of  prayer 
and  faith — the  miracle  itself — He  pauses  in 
that  majestic  progress  towards  death  and  the 
grave,  lifts  up  His  eyes  and  gives  thanks. 
Why  give  thanks  ?  To  mortal  eyes  nothing 
had  yet  taken  place.  "  Father,  I  thank  Thee 
that  Thou  hast  heard  Me,"  are  His  words. 
Was  it  not  imperilling  His  cause  to  utter  such 
words?  Nay,  verily,  it  was  but  strengthen- 
ing His  cause.  Listen  to  the  basis  of  that 
magnificent  confidence.  ''I  knew  that  Thou 
hearest  Me  always."  Here  was  an  assurance 
more  solid  than  the  granite  foundations  of 
Sinai — a  note  that  rolls  through  the  ages, 
"  Lord,  Thou  hast  been  our  dwelling  place  in 
all  generations  .  .  .  from  everlasting  to 
everlasting  Thou  art  God."  **  I  knew."  A 
world  of  significance  in  those  words.  Two 
worlds  are  wrapped  up  in  them.  On  earth, 
a  mere  lad  of  twelve,  He  had  come  to  know 
His  Father's  business.  From  heaven,  at  the 
beginning  of  His  ministry,  there  had  come  a 


132  PRAYER 

divine  credential,  a  voice  saying,  "This  is 
My  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased." 

Not  for  the  sake  of  His  friend  Lazarus,  nor 
for  the  sisters  of  His  friend,  deep  as  His  lov- 
ing sympathy  was,  had  He  said,  ''I  knew 
that  Thou  hearest  Me  always  :  but  because  of 
the  multitude  that  standeth  around,  I  said  it, 
that  they  may  believe  that  Thou  didst  send 
Me.  And  when  He  had  thus  spoken.  He  cried 
with  a  loud  voice,  Lazarus,  come  forth.  He 
that  was  dead  came  forth,  bound  hand  and 
foot  with  grave  clothes  ;  and  his  face  was 
bound  about  with  a  napkin.  And  Jesus  said 
unto  them,  Loose  him  and  let  him  go."  His 
faith  had  burst  the  bonds  of  death.  His  mo- 
tive was  to  make  men  believe  that  the  Father 
had  sent  Him,  and  the  spiritual  quality  of 
His  prayer  grew  out  of  fellowship  with  the 
Father. 

Prayer  is  not  a  lost  art.  Instances  of  pre- 
vailing prayer  upon  the  mission  field  are  not 
infrequent.  It  is  an  atmosphere  in  which 
prayer  grows  and  faith  works.  This  occur- 
rence, however,  at  Songdo,  Korea,  a  few 
years  ago,  was  something  out  of  the  ordi- 
nary. It  was  a  matter  of  great  importance 
that  Mr.  Yun  Tchi  Ho  should  take  charge  of 
our  educational  work  at  once.  To  do  so,  it 
was  imperative  he  should  be  released  by  his 


MAN  SEEKING  GOD  133 

father,  General  Yun,  from  certain  family 
obligations  before  he  could  be  regularly 
appointed.  Bishop  W.  A.  Candler  was  in 
charge  of  our  Korean  Mission,  and  under  the 
necessity  of  leaving  Songdo  by  the  earliest 
train.  The  worst  weather  of  the  season  was 
on.  It  was  pouring  rain.  The  roads  were 
almost  impassable,  and  no  one  expected  Gen- 
eral Yun,  who  was  in  the  mountains,  to  come 
down. 

There  was  one  missionary  in  the  group 
who  had  set  his  heart  upon  the  coming  of 
the  General.  It  seemed  to  him  necessary  for 
the  establishment  of  the  Kingdom,  since  it 
involved  the  setting  apart  of  a  competent 
man  for  a  special  and  much  needed  work. 
He  laid  the  matter  before  God.  Others  knew 
of  the  prayer  oft  repeated  during  the  day 
and  possibly,  in  a  mild  way,  had  some  share 
in  it,  but  little  faith.  Was  not  the  weather 
too  inclement  ?  Could  any  one  be  induced 
to  travel  over  such  roads?  And  then  the 
General  was  a  Confucianist  and  an  unbe- 
liever, how  could  he  be  moved  ? 

Notwithstanding  these  misgivings  upon 
the  part  of  others,  the  one  who  wrestled  with 
God  came  to  the  door,  searched  anxiously 
the  trail  that  led  to  the  hills,  and  then  re- 
turned to  his  place  of  prayer.     At  last  the 


134  PRAYER 

astonished  cry  was  raised,  **  The  General  is 
coming  !  The  General  is  coming !  "  There 
was  a  rush  to  the  door.  Sure  enough,  with 
attendants  and  retinue  wading  and  splashing 
through  mire  and  mud,  there  came  the  old 
warrior.  Upon  arrival,  when  asked  why  he 
came,  the  stately  old  Korean,  ex-Minister  of 
War,  smiled  significantly,  and  said  he  could 
give  no  reason,  save  that  he  had  been  com- 
pelled to  come.  Hardie  had  prayed  General 
Yun  down  from  the  mountains. 

It  was  with  Doctor  Hardie  that  the  Korean 
revival  began.  Not  that  God  was  shut  up  to 
one  man,  but  it  was  rather  the  fact  of  one 
man  having  a  deep  and  humiliating  sense  of 
his  own  unworthiness  and  need.  Days  were 
spent  in  heart-searching  and  supplication. 
Then  there  came  the  service  at  the  Korean 
Church  at  Wonsan,  the  sermon  to  the  con- 
gregation and  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
with  power.  Conviction  and  confession  fol- 
lowed, leading  up  to  a  revival  which  extended 
across  the  peninsula  and  in  every  direction. 

"  During  the  month  of  August,  1906,  the 
missionaries  at  Pyengyang  sought  a  deeper 
experience  of  God's  power  in  their  own  lives, 
and  for  this  purpose  meetings  for  Bible  study 
and  prayer  were  held  for  eight  days.  Dur- 
ing these  meetings  a  special  burden  for  the 


MAN  SEEKING  GOD  135 

Korean  Church  was  laid  upon  them  and  in 
response  to  their  suggestion,  hundreds  of  the 
Korean  Christians  covenanted  to  spend  one 
hour  a  day  in  prayer  for  the  outpouring  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.  This  concert  of  prayer  con- 
tinued through  the  autumn  and  winter,  when 
in  the  first  week  of  January,  1907,  the  Holy 
Spirit  was  literally  poured  forth  on  the  people 
and  the  fire  of  His  presence  spread  rapidly 
throughout  the  whole  city  and  the  surround- 
ing country."  ^ 

Prayer  and  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  repentance  and  confession  of  sin,  re- 
generation and  witnessing,  were,  as  in  Wales, 
characteristics  of  this  great  revival.  Out  of 
it  came  the  missionary  campaign  in  1909 
which  led  to  an  increase  of  thirty  per  cent,  to 
the  church  membership,  or  the  winning  of 
80,000  converts  to  Christ  in  six  months. 
Who  shall  place  metes  and  bounds  upon  the 
movement  of  God's  Spirit  when  men  pray 
aright  ?  "  Every  step  in  the  progress  of 
missions,"  says  Dr.  A.  T.  Pierson,  "is  di- 
rectly traceable  to  prayer.  It  has  been  the 
preparation  for  every  triumph  and  the  secret 
of  all  success." 

Prayer  should  always  be  a  means  of  grace  ; 

*  "  The    Korean     Revival,"    by    the    Rev.    George     Heber 
Jones,  D.  D.  and  the  Rev.  W.  Arthur  Noble. 


136  PRAYER 

a  spiritual  tonic ;  a  strengthener  of  faith  ;  a 
creator  of  ideals  ;  a  quickener  of  spiritual 
sensibilities  ;  an  enrichment  of  our  sympa- 
thies ;  an  expansion  of  the  sense  of  brother- 
hood ;  and  will  certainly  result,  if  effectual,  in 
the  discovery  of  a  larger  Christ,  and  in  the 
joy  of  vital  fellowship  with  Him. 

Too  often  our  prayers  are  poverty  stricken 
and  feeble,  because  so  little  time  is  bestowed 
upon  their  enrichment.  Prevailing  prayer 
requires  adequate  preparation.  We  give  less 
time  to  our  prayers  to  God  than  to  the  prep- 
aration of  our  public  utterances  to  men. 
Hurry  and  lack  of  preparation  in  an  approach 
to  an  earthly  king  would  be  unthinkable. 
And  yet  in  irreverent  haste  we  make  our 
approach  to  the  throne  of  grace,  and  hope  to 
secure  the  most  potential  gifts  for  men.  God 
does  not  yield  Himself  to  such  approaches. 
Spiritual  strength  is  reinforced  only  by 
waiting  upon  Him  who  is  the  source  of 
power. 

Prayer  and  faith  act  and  react  upon  each 
other.  An  ever-deepening  prayer  life  does 
not  simply  require  a  growing  faith — it  be- 
gets it.  Largeness  of  faith,  on  the  other 
hand,  results  in  an  expanded  prayer  life.  The 
range  and  sweep  of  the  telescope  which 
brings  within   the   astronomer's   reach  suns 


MAN  SEEKING  GOD  I37 

and  systems,  hitherto  unexplored  and  charted; 
awakens  and  intensifies  his  desire  for  an 
instrument  of  larger  scope  and  increased 
power  for  the  discovery  of  yet  other  suns, 
until  his  whole  life  becomes  a  passion  for  ex- 
ploring the  unseen. 

It  is  a  true  saying — "  To  do  the  work  of 
God,  we  must  have  the  power  of  God."  The 
power  of  the  kingdom  of  grace  is  released 
by  the  prayer  of  faith.  It  was  Hudson  Taylor 
who  exclaimed  in  his  sermon  before  the 
Shanghai  Missionary  Conference  in  1889, 
"All  power  is  with  God.  God's  power  is 
available.  All  things  are  possible  to  him 
that  belie veth."  Prayer  makes  power  avail- 
able. Prayer  unlocks  the  resources  of  the 
unseen  world,  the  evidence  of  which  is  our 
faith.  Prayer  and  faith  are  the  two  great 
headlands  through  which  the  soul  sweeps 
into  the  ocean  of  matchless  grace  and  infinite 
possibilities. 

A  man's  prayers  are  the  highest  peaks  to 
which  his  life  rises.  It  is  there  in  the  upper 
air  that  not  only  sunshine  but  vision  and 
deeper  breaths  are  found.  On  the  contrary, 
if  his  prayers  are  shallow  and  conventional 
they  rise  no  higher  than  the  lowest  levels  to 
which  his  religious  experience  drops.  Re- 
ligiously we  live  as  we  pray,  life  being  lifted 


138  PRAYER 

Up  by  our  prayers,  but  we  too  often  pray  as 
we  live  at  a  poor,  listless,  nerveless  rate. 

Work  and  prayer  are  interdependent  and 
closely  joined  together.  Real  prayer  is  work 
— the  hardest  kind  of  work.  It  costs  time 
and  pains  to  pray,  and  the  answer  to  our 
prayers  may  cost  us  more  than  we  had 
counted  on  before  we  prayed.  Work  of  the 
right  kind,  on  the  other  hand,  is  prayer.  No 
true  work  is  worthy  of  the  name  which  does 
not  take  account  of  the  Kingdom  of  God, 
and  the  prayer  force  required  for  its  upbuild- 
ing. 

Our  prayers  lack  power  because  they  lack 
purpose  ;  they  fail  of  a  high  objective  because 
of  being  prompted  by  a  low  motive.  We  are 
weak  in  prayer  because  of  irreverence  and 
indefiniteness,  irresolution  and  impatience, 
lack  of  importunity,  lack  of  breadth,  lack 
of  faith, — from  the  existence  of  secret  sin. 
Indolence  hinders  prayer,  and  lack  of  desire. 
Faith  is  weak  if  there  be  no  importunity,  and 
secret  sin  both  destroys  power  with  God  and 
makes  defeat  certain.  There  can  be  no 
victory  in  prayer  through  Christ,  if  Christ 
has  not  won  the  victory  over  sin  in  the  heart. 

What  better  tonic  and  corrective  of  a 
nerveless  prayer  life  than  to  catch  the  spirit 
of  such  an  one  as  David  Brainerd — "  Here 


MAN  SEEKING  GOD  139 

I  am,  Lord,  send  me  ;  send  me  to  the  ends  of 
the  earth  ;  send  me  to  the  rough  and  savage 
pagans  of  the  wilderness ;  send  me  from  all 
that  is  called  comfort  in  the  earth  ;  send  me 
even  to  death  itself;  if  it  be  but  in  Thy 
service,  and  to  promote  Thy  Kingdom." 

A.  J.  Gordon  points  to  the  remarkable  fact 
that  the  year  1738  was  one  in  which  Wesley, 
Brainerd  and  Jonathan  Edwards  were  pass- 
ing through  a  spiritual  crisis.  It  was  in  the 
closet  upon  their  knees  they  found,  in  the  hid- 
ing place  of  power,  the  Dynamic  which  made 
their  lives  a  living,  burning,  quenchless  fire. 
Brainerd  and  Edwards  kindled  a  light  in  New 
England  which  never  went  out ;  Wesley  set 
the  world  on  fire  with  his  evangelism,  and 
William  Carey,  according  to  A.  J.  Gordon, 
was  indebted  to  both  for  his  missionary  in- 
spiration. 

God  honours  the  simple  childlike  faith  of 
the  native  Christian  who  has  not  yet  learned 
to  doubt  his  heavenly  Father's  readiness  to 
care  for  His  children  in  their  extremity.  Nor 
has  he  acquired  the  habit  of  relying  upon 
auxiliary  forces,  which  we  are  so  prone  to  do 
in  a  rationalistic  age. 

Rev.  A.  F.  Hensy,  of  Bolenge  upon  the 
Upper  Congo,  gives  the  following  experience 
of    Longwango,    one    of    their    evangelists. 


I40  PRAYER 

Making  a  long  journey  up  the  Ngiri  River, 
he  had  only  a  boy  to  help  him  paddle  the 
canoe.  They  came  into  a  district  where  the 
natives  were  very  hostile.  It  was  the  rainy 
season,  the  water  was  high  and  food  scarce 
because  of  swampy  land  and  wild  beasts. 
They  paused  opposite  village  after  village 
to  buy  something  to  eat,  only  to  be  driven 
away  with  threats  and  curses.  Finally  one 
evening,  weak  with  fasting,  the  evangelist 
prayed  to  his  Father,  as  he  sat  in  the  canoe, 
**  Oh,  God,  send  me  just  a  little  palm  oil  lest 
we  die."  The  boy  being  a  heathen  mocked 
him.  But  as  they  paddled  on,  an  earthen 
pot  was  seen  floating  in  the  river.  Awed  by 
so  evident  an  answer  to  prayer,  the  boy 
begged  the  evangelist  not  to  touch  the  pot. 
But  Longwango  replied,  **  My  Father  has 
sent  it."  Lifting  it  out  of  the  water  he  found 
it  partly  full  of  oil.  In  his  prayer  he  had 
asked  for  the  common  "  Ntobu  "  oil,  but  his 
Father — God — was  better  than  his  prayer — 
the  pot  contained  rich  red  "  Nkolo  "  oil. 

The  missionary  life  of  the  Apostle  to  the 
Gentiles  is  unconsciously  recorded  in  his 
prayers.  A  more  genuine  and  searching  test 
of  a  man's  liie  could  not  be  found.  There 
emerge,  from  the  hidden  depths  of  his  being, 
affections,    holy   ambitions    and    aspirations 


MAN   SEEKING   GOD  I4I 

which  are  deepened  and  heightened  by  com- 
munion with  his  Lord.  His  intercessory- 
prayers,  fragmentary  as  they  are,  constitute 
the  master  strokes  with  which  a  great  Hfe 
outHnes  itself.  No  biographer  could  have 
more  clearly  touched  the  salient  points  of  the 
Pauline  character. 

Through  his  prayers  we  are  let  down  into 
the  deeper  deep  of  his  being,  and  with  them 
we  scale  the  higher  heights  of  God's  revela- 
tion to  man.  Prayer  was  truly  **  the  first 
breath  of  his  new  life."  It  was  the  Lord 
Himself  who  a  few  hours  after  the  conversion 
of  Saul  made  the  significant  comment,  "  Be- 
hold he  prayeth."  The  first  breath  of  his  new 
life,  and  probably  the  last,  was  drawn  in 
prayer,  for  the  Apostle  seemed  to  give  him- 
self to  one  unceasing  act  of  intercession. 
The  churches  in  the  regions  beyond  owed 
their  very  existence  to  those  prayers.  He 
fanned  the  flame  and  kept  the  soul  alive. 

Paul  was  a  learner,  no  less  than  the  twelve 
disciples,  in  the  School  of  Prayer.  The  two 
years  in  Arabia  were  not  devoted  solely  to 
the  reorganization  of  his  thinking.  The  time 
was  largely  spent  in  supplication.  How 
otherwise  could  he  know  the  mind  and  spirit 
of  Christ,  and  enter  into  fellowship  with  Him 
in    suffering?     Had   not   the    Lord    said   to 


142  PRAYER 

Ananias,  '*  I  will  show  him  how  many  things 
he  must  suffer  for  My  name's  sake  "  ?  Prayer 
alone  could  lead  him  to  realize  a  fellowship 
that  would  enable  him  to  say,  ''  That  I  may 
know  Him  and  the  power  of  His  resurrection, 
and  the  fellowship  of  His  sufferings,  becom- 
ing conformed  unto  His  death."  The  break 
with  Judaism  and  the  emancipation  of  Chris- 
tianity could  not  have  been  made  and  sus- 
tained, in  so  intense  a  nature,  save  through 
long  supplication ;  for  the  rupture  cost  him 
friends,  teachers,  tribulation,  persecution, 
travail  of  soul  and  life  itself. 

The  opening  of  the  mission  of  the  Method- 
ist Episcopal  Church,  South,  in  Central  Af- 
rica, over  fifteen  hundred  miles  from  the  sea, 
is  a  remarkable  illustration  of  answer  to  defi- 
nite intercessory  prayer,  and  of  the  personal 
leadership  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  He  it  is  who 
from  the  days  of  the  Apostolic  Church  has 
given  shape  to  plans,  timed  events,  and 
brought  men  together.  What  is  it  but  God 
steadily  working  out  His  purpose  for  the  re- 
demption of  mankind? 

Upon  reaching  Luebo  after  thousands  of 
miles  of  travel  by  sea  and  by  river  Prof.  J.  W. 
Gilbert  and  I  received  a  generous  welcome 
from  the  Southern  Presbyterians,  and  were 
informed  that  for  ten  years  they  had  been 


MAN  SEEKING  GOD  143 

praying  for  the  coming  of  the  Methodists. 
Mighty  faith  that  was  !  Ten  years  of  inter- 
cession, and  still  confident  the  Lord  would 
answer  their  prayers.  He  did  answer  ;  for 
He  is  faithful  that  promised. 

It  was  thought  wise  for  us  to  attempt  the 
evangelization  of  the  Batetela,  a  great  tribe 
of  warriors  far  away  to  the  east.  A  caravan 
was  necessary  and  sixty  carriers  needed.  We 
could  only  get  forty.  It  was  the  planting 
season,  and  then  it  was  not  every  man  who 
was  willing  for  a  few  yards  of  cloth  and  a 
few  pints  of  salt  to  face  sleeping  sickness 
and  African  fever,  wild  beasts  and  savage 
men.  Three  days  of  painful  suspense.  Then 
the  bell  was  rung  and  drums  beaten.  The 
Presbyterians  were  being  called  together. 
They  came  trooping  in  from  the  town,  they 
swarmed  along  the  forest  trails,  they  filled 
the  great  church — men,  women  and  children. 

Doctor  Morrison's  appeal  followed.  We 
can  never  forget  it.  '*  Christ  gave  Himself 
for  you.  What  have  you  given  to  Him  ? 
Christ  died  for  you.  Who  among  you  has 
died  for  Africa  ?  We  prayed  long,  and  the 
great  God,  Nzambe,  answered  our  prayers. 
Two  brethren  have  come  to  open  work  among 
the  Batetela.  Sixty  men  are  needed  to  carry 
their  tent,  their  salt,  and  cloth.     We  have 


144  PRAYER 

forty,  we  must  have  twenty  more.  Will  you 
sit  here,  enjoy  the  fruits  of  Christianity  and 
have  these  brethren  go  back  and  say  the 
Church  was  not  willing  in  the  day  of  God's 
power  ?  "  Twenty  stalwart  fellows — Presby- 
terians— sprang  to  their  feet.  ''  We  will  go  if 
the  Church  will  take  care  of  our  wives  and 
children  and  plant  our  fields,"  said  the  spokes- 
man. "Will  the  Church  do  it?"  asked 
Morrison,  turning  to  the  great  body  of  Chris- 
tians before  him.  **  We  will  do  it,"  they 
cried,  and  we  had  our  men. 

Then  one  man — Mudimbe,  the  ruling  elder 
and  leading  evangelist,  stood  up.  This  was  his 
story  :  **  I  cannot  sit  still  when  twenty  of  my 
men  offer  to  go  on  this  long  missionary 
journey.  I  came  from  that  country  near  the 
Lualaba  River.  My  father  was  a  chief.  He 
was  shot  down,  one  morning,  in  a  wild  raid 
upon  our  village.  My  mother  was  dragged 
into  the  bush,  and  I  carried  captive  to  the 
court  of  Ngonga,  the  cannibal  chief.  For 
two  years  I  waited  upon  him.  In  his  drunken 
bouts  he  sliced  off  the  ears  and  lips  of  his 
attendants.  With  several  boys  I  ran  away 
into  the  forest,  where  we  were  captured  by 
the  Zapozaps.  From  them  in  turn  I  was 
taken  by  the  Belgians.  The  captain  turned 
me  over  to  this  mission.     God  was  good  to 


MAN   SEEKING  GOD  I45 

me.  I  found  myself  to  be  a  sinner  and  Jesus 
to  be  my  Saviour.  Oh,  the  wonderful  grace 
of  it  all.  He  forgave  my  sins.  I  cannot 
stay.  I  must  go  with  these  my  brethren  to 
my  native  land  to  tell  the  story  of  God."  I 
turned  to  Doctor  Morrison.  **  Can  you  spare 
him?"  *'  I  could  not  keep  him  under  these 
circumstances,"  was  the  reply. 

We  marched  through  forests  and  over 
plains,  forded  streams  and  crossed  rivers, 
passed  through  scores  of  villages,  and  were 
ten  days'  journey  in  the  Batetela  country. 
Where  were  we  to  locate  a  mission  ? 

At  the  farewell  meeting  at  Luebo  more 
than  one  thousand  had  pledged  their  daily 
intercession  in  our  behalf.  Among  the  many 
petitions  offered  there  was  one  in  the  following 
remarkable  words :  **  O  Lord,  lead  these  men 
to  the  right  place  and  help  them  to  know  it 
when  they  get  there."  Every  night,  after  the 
day's  march  and  prayer  with  the  caravan, 
five  met  in  our  tent  for  more  prayer  and 
council — Mudimbe,  the  evangelist,  two  other 
native  Christians,  Gilbert  and  myself.  Time 
and  again  I  asked  the  question,  **  Have  we 
reached  the  right  place  ?  Shall  we  locate  the 
mission  here  ?  "  The  invariable  reply  was, 
"Not  yet,  not  yet.  This  is  not  the  right 
place.     We    cannot    locate   here."     Then    I 


146  PRAYER 

would  turn  to  Gilbert  and  ask,  "  How  far  are 
we  going,  Gilbert  ?  Where  shall  we  stop  ? 
Is  there  no  indication  ?  Shall  we  go  on  until 
we  reach  Lake  Tanganyika  ?  Are  we  going 
clear  across  the  continent?" 

On  the  morning  of  the  forty-second  day 
we  walked  into  a  large  village.  The  main 
street  was  over  a  mile  long  and  one  hundred 
and  fifty  feet  wide.  The  caravan  had  fallen 
behind.  Our  men  were  footsore  and  weary. 
The  chief,  Wembo  Niama,  the  biggest  man 
we  had  met  in  Africa,  approached  and  de- 
manded, **Whoareyou?"  "  Bantu  Nzambe" 
(God's  men),  was  the  reply.  He  seemed 
pleased,  though  puzzled,  and  assigned  us  an 
unfinished  house  in  which  to  spend  the  night. 
I  examined  it  and  returned.  The  caravan 
had  come  up.  To  my  astonishment  the  chief 
approached  again,  this  time  holding  Mudimbe 
by  the  hand.  He  had  discovered  the  friend 
of  his  boyhood  in  the  court  of  Ngonga,  where 
he  himself  had  served,  not  as  a  captive,  but 
as  a  page.  He  thought  Mudimbe  was  dead, 
and  now  after  twenty  years  he  had  come  to 
life  again.  He  threw  his  own  establishment 
wide  open  to  us,  fed  the  entire  caravan  for 
four  days,  when  he  learned  our  purpose 
desired  us  to  remain,  and  urged  us  to  return 
with   missionaries.     '*  Why,"    said  he,  **  has 


MAN  SEEKING  GOD  147 

Nzambe  raised  me  up  to  be  a  great  chief, 
unless  it  was  to  protect  your  people,  who  are 
my  people  ? "  After  the  lapse  of  twenty 
years,  Wembo  Niama,  the  savage  chief  of 
a  cannibal  tribe,  had  been  brought  face  to 
face  with  Mudimbe,  the  faithful  Christian 
and  leader  of  three  hundred  teachers  and 
evangelists.  The  prayer  was  answered. 
The  Spirit  of  God  had  led  us  to  the  right 
place  and  given  us,  in  the  fulfillment  of  many 
conditions,  assurance  that  we  had  been 
divinely  guided  in  the  location  of  the  mission. 

No  true  prayer  is  ever  lost.  The  answer 
may  come  long  after  the  supplicant's  voice  is 
stilled.  Was  not  this  splendid  proof  of  God's 
power  and  willingness  to  bless  any  sincere 
effort  to  save  Africa  due  in  a  large  measure 
to  the  intercession  of  David  Livingstone  who 
died  upon  his  knees,  but  is  still  speaking  ? 

Blaikie  says  of  him,  '*  Amid  the  universal 
darkness  around  him,  the  universal  ignorance 
of  God  and  of  the  grace  and  love  of  Jesus 
Christ,  it  was  hard  to  believe  that  Africa 
should  ever  be  won.  He  had  to  strengthen 
his  faith  amid  this  universal  desolation." 

In  Livingstone's  journal  we  find  this 
record  :  "  He  will  keep  His  word — the  gra- 
cious One,  full  of  grace  and  truth  ;  no  doubt 
of  it.     He  said  :  *  Him  that  cometh  unto  Me, 


148  PRAYER 

I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out ; '  and  *  Whatsoevef 
ye  shall  ask  in  My  name,  I  will  give  it'  He 
will  keep  His  word  ;  then  I  can  come  and 
humbly  present  my  petition,  and  it  will 
be  all  right.  Doubt  is  here  inadmissible, 
surely." 

Jesus  said,  "  Have  faith  in  God.  Verily  I 
say  unto  you,  Whosoever  shall  say  unto  this 
mountain,  Be  thou  taken  up  and  cast  into  the 
sea ;  and  shall  not  doubt  in  his  heart,  but 
shall  believe  that  what  he  saith  cometh  to 
pass  ;  he  shall  have  it."  Livingstone's  faith 
prevailed.  Just  one  year  before  his  death,  he 
wrote  a  letter  to  the  New  York  Herald 
and  as  he  finished  it,  as  James  Gilmour  of 
Mongolia  was  wont  to  do,  invoked  the  bless- 
ing of  God  upon  it.  The  letter  contained  the 
memorable  words  afterwards  inscribed  on  the 
stone  in  Westminster  Abbey  :  *'  All  I  can  say 
in  my  solitude  is,  may  Heaven's  rich  blessing 
come  down  on  every  one, — American,  Eng- 
lish, Turk — who  will  help  to  heal  this  open 
sore  of  the  world."  The  prayer  was  an- 
swered— the  mountain  removed — the  open 
sore  healed — the  slave-trade  in  Africa  abol- 
ished— and  the  last  Continent  enshrouded  in 
heathen  darkness  was  riven  as  by  a  wedge 
of  light  and  thrown  wide  to  the  Gospel  of 
love,  of  liberty  and  of  life. 


MAN  SEEKING  GOD  I49 

**  The  connection  between  prayer  and  mis- 
sions has  been  traced  over  the  whole  field  of 
missionary  conditions,  simply  to  show  that 
every  element  in  the  missionary  problem  of 
to-day  depends  for  its  solution  chiefly  upon 
prayer.  The  assertion  has  been  frequently 
made  in  past  years  that  with  20,000  men, 
properly  qualified  and  distributed,  the  world 
could  be  evangelized  in  thirty  years.  And 
actually  there  is  need  of  an  immediate, 
undaunted  effort  to  secure  20,000  men. 
Neither,  perhaps,  can  the  world  be  evangel- 
ized without  them,  nor  can  they  be  secured 
without  effort.  But  it  is  hopeless  to  en- 
deavour to  obtain  them,  and  they  will  be 
worthless  if  obtained,  unless  the  whole  effort 
be  inspired  and  permeated  with  prayer. 
*  Thrust  forth  Thy  labourers  into  the  harvest.' 
.  .  .  The  evangelization  of  the  world  in 
this  generation  depends,  first  of  all,  upon  a 
revival  of  prayer.  Deeper  than  the  need  for 
men ;  aye,  deep  down  at  the  bottom  of  our 
spiritless  life  is  the  need  for  the  forgotten 
secret  of  prevailing,  world-wide  prayer."  ^ 

Prayer  to  be  a  constructive  force  is  not 
simply  being  passively  willing  that  the  will 
of  God  be  done,  but  the  definite  and  deter- 
mined purpose  to  do  the  will  of  God.     It  is 

»  Robert  E.  Speer,  Missionary  Address. 


I50  PRAYER 

seeking  to  know  the  will  of  God,  in  order 
that  His  will  shall  interpenetrate  the  will  of 
man  and  energize  his  spirit.  Prayer  should 
be  bold  in  purposeful  desire,  in  importunity 
of  desire,  and  may  become  an  expression 
even  of  the  very  agony  of  desire.  It  surely 
is  an  illustration  of  the  last  when  the  Apostle 
speaks  of  the  groanings  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
who  maketh  intercession  for  us. 

The  Lord's  prayer  has  expectancy,  large- 
ness of  vision  and  courageous  grasp  of  the 
movement  of  God's  Spirit.  It  prays  "  Thy 
Kingdom  come.  Thy  will  be  done."  It  in- 
cludes the  majesty  of  moral  law,  the  privilege 
of  citizenship  in  the  Kingdom,  the  brother- 
hood of  kingly  children,  for  He  is  our  Father, 
and  the  potentiality  of  spiritual  forces  which 
in  mighty  currents  and  tides  are  to  enrich 
the  life  of  the  individual  and  sweep  the  shores 
of  every  tribe  and  of  every  nation.  In  His 
intercessory  prayer  Jesus  moves  along  the 
expanding  line  of  a  glorified  Fatherhood  and 
of  a  fellowship  of  men  who  believe  in  the 
Truth,  are  energized  and  bound  together  by 
a  Christly  love,  and  are  attuned  to  one  divine 
symphony  in  which  the  human  will  is  brought 
into  harmony  with  the  divine. 

The  promise  of  God  is  inseparable  from 
the  providence  of  God.     Simple-minded  be- 


MAN   SEEKING  GOD  151 

lievers  who  pray  with  childlike  faith  may  not 
have  reasoned  it  out,  but  they  find  it  so,  and 
are  not  astonished.  Providence  follows  prom- 
ise with  swift  feet,  if  it  does  not  actually 
accompany  it,  and  faith  is  the  key  to  both. 
Man's  extremity  and  man's  prayers  bring 
God's  best  gift — the  ministering  presence  of 
His  Son.  Is  there  any  certainty  about  it? 
It  certainly  is  based  upon  God's  promise 
and  man's  faith.  United  prayer  and  con- 
joined faith  bring  the  very  heavens  down  to 
man.  **  If  two  of  you  shall  agree  on  earth  as 
touching  anything  that  they  shall  ask,  it  shall 
be  done  for  them  of  My  Father  who  is  in 
heaven." 

Three  inveterate  opium  smokers,  old  men, 
entered  a  Refuge  in  North  China,  carried  on 
by  two  native  helpers.  One  of  the  three 
patients  grows  desperate  on  the  third  night 
and  in  the  agony  of  the  struggle  with  a  life- 
time habit,  cries  out  for  relief.  The  two 
Christians  help  him  out  of  bed,  kneel  beside 
him  and  win  the  fight.     Here  is  the  story  : 

"  Only  a  poor  cave-room  in  that  litde  vil- 
lage, far  away  in  the  heart  of  China,  and 
three  old  men  kneeling  alone  at  midnight. 
Was  He  there,  that  wonderful  Saviour  ? 
Would  He  respond  with  ready  succour  as  of 
old? 


152  PRAYER 

•*  Tremblingly  the  cry  went  up  in  the  dark- 
ness :  *  O  Jesus,  help  me.  Save  me.  Save 
me  now.' 

"  A  few  minutes  later  the  sufferer  was  lying 
quietly  wrapped  in  his  wadded  coverlet  again. 
His  groans  ceased.  His  distress  passed 
away.    And  in  a  little  while  he  was  fast  asleep. 

**  *  Jesus  is  truly  here,'  whispered  the  others. 
And  they  too  slept  till  morning."  ^ 

Had  they  heard  the  Master's  words  ? 
Surely  they  had  heard  them  and  believed,  for 
had  He  Himself  not  said  it — **  Where  two  or 
three  are  gathered  together  in  My  name, 
there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them."  As  long 
as  such  a  promise  is  given  to  men,  and  such 
childlike  confidence  is  offered  to  God,  the 
world's  evangelization  is  assured. 

1  Mrs.  Howard  Taylor,  «  Pastor  Hsi,"  p.  73. 


LECTURE  IV 
MISSIONS  AND  THE  HEROIC 


LECTURE  IV 
MISSIONS  AND  THE  HEROIC 

THE  world  cannot  be  won  without  a 
religion  that  is  heroic.  "  The  glory 
and  the  heroism  of  Christianity  lie 
in  its  missionary  life."  They  are  found  there 
because  all  true  missionary  life  must  be  heroic 
in  purpose,  in  faith,  in  courage,  in  magna- 
nimity, in  patience,  in  sacrifice  and  in  the  joy 
of  it  all.  **  Master,  the  Jews  of  late  sought  to 
stone  Thee,  and  goest  Thou  thither  again  ?  " 
Yes,  going  thither  was  a  part  of  His  mission. 
How  otherwise  would  they  know  He  was  the 
Way  to  the  Father  ?  Going  back  there  to 
seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost.  How 
otherwise  could  the  world  be  won  ? 

We  may  not  have  learned  the  deeper 
lesson  of  Christian  endeavour  involved  in  the 
philosophy  of  redemption,  but  the  Apostle  to 
the  Gentiles  had.  **  Having  stoned  Paul,  they 
drew  him  out  of  the  city  supposing  that  he 
was  dead."  And  Paul  "  returned  again  to 
Lystra  1 "  Back  to  the  stones  ?  "  Are  we  famil- 
iar," asks  Jowett,  "  with  the  road  that  leads 
155 


156  MISSIONS   AND  THE  HEROIC 

back  to  the  stones  ?  "  It  was  a  perilous  road 
back  to  the  city  of  Lystra,  but  it  led  to  Rome. 
It  was  the  way  of  the  cross,  but  it  brought  the 
crown  of  life.  "  As  the  sufferings  of  Christ 
abound  in  us,  so  our  consolation  also  abound- 
eth  through  Christ  .  .  .  if  we  suffer  with 
Him,  we  shall  also  reign  with  Him."  Heroic 
living  like  this  is  not  for  human  ideas,  but 
for  divine  ideas.  Adherence  to  human  ideas 
wins  popular  sympathy ;  adherence  to  divine 
ideas  begets  opposition,  hate,  persecution, 
and  the  sword.  The  motive  is  not  a  human 
affection,  but  a  divine  love,  constraining,  im- 
pelling, inspiring. 

Ours  is  a  Gospel  which  makes  heroic  de- 
mands upon  us  to  carry  it  to  others.  Failing 
to  be  sent,  it  withers  in  our  grasp  and  in 
withering  blasts  our  character,  our  lives  and 
our  hopes.  It  is  at  once  the  most  precious 
and  the  most  dangerous  possession  men  can 
have.  To  give  is  to  get  more,  and  to  with- 
hold is  to  lose  what  we  have,  and  in  losing 
endangers  the  loss  of  ourselves  with  it. 

The  Gospel  is  the  greater  because  it  is  not 
our  own,  but  belongs  to  others.  It  is  the 
larger  and  the  more  precious  for  the  wider 
ownership.  Ours  is  not  simply  a  joint  owner- 
ship with  other  men,  but  a  copartnership 
with  God,  in  the  sense  in  which  we  are  co- 


MISSIONS  AND   THE  HEROIC  157 

workers  with  God.  An  inheritance  is  always 
the  greater  by  belonging  to  the  race  rather 
than  to  the  individual.  Heathenism  insists 
upon  individual  ownership;  Christianity  en- 
courages corporate  ownership,  which  in  mod- 
ern life  is  receiving  more  and  more  empha- 
sis. The  peril  of  the  abuse  of  such  ownership, 
however,  is  the  more  imminent  because  the 
greatest  perils  always  go  with  the  highest 
privileges.  The  most  subtle  temptations  are 
those  which  insinuate  themselves  into  the 
higher  order  of  life  and  its  ideals. 

In  the  giving  of  the  Gospel,  we  always  get 
a  larger  Gospel  and  a  larger  Christ.  It  is 
here  the  glory  and  the  power  of  Christianity 
are  found.  Not  in  withholding,  but  in  be- 
stowing. In  the  act  and  spirit  of  such  giv- 
ing, we  touch  the  divine  nature,  and  realize 
for  the  first  time  the  glory  of  heroic  self- 
denial,  and  the  deeper  lessons  of  suffering 
which  bring  us  into  fellowship  with  our  Lord. 

Only  the  depths  of  human  and  divine  love 
can  measure  the  power  and  influence  of  he- 
roic sympathy.  "  But  when  He  saw  the 
multitudes,  He  was  moved  with  compassion 
for  them,  because  they  were  distressed  and 
scattered,  as  sheep  not  having  a  shepherd." 
It  is  the  faculty  of  seeing  and  feeling  from 
another's  point  of  view.     It  is  the  power  to 


158  MISSIONS  AND  THE  HEROIC 

put  one's  self  in  the  place  of  the  other  man. 
More  than  that,  it  is  the  identification  with 
another's  needs,  desires,  hopes,  fears,  suffer- 
ing, and  with  life  itself.  Such  identification 
is  impossible  until  self  and  its  own  interests 
are  lost  sight  of. 

It  was  Edmund  Burke  who  said,  **  Next  to 
love,  sympathy  is  the  divinest  passion  of  the 
human  heart."  It  is  divine  in  its  nobility  and 
in  its  readiness  to  communicate  one's  own 
soul  to  another.  The  world  has  always 
yearned  for  sympathy  like  this,  and  has  al- 
ways opened  its  heart  to  it. 

One  of  the  high  points  of  his  great  life  was 
when  Moses,  while  condemning  Israel  for 
their  flagrant  sin  of  idolatry,  in  a  spirit  of 
marvellous  self-abnegation,  proposed  to  sub- 
stitute himself  and  make  atonement  for  their 
sin.  He  returned  unto  the  Lord,  and  said, 
"  Oh,  this  people  have  sinned  a  great  sin, 
and  have  made  them  gods  of  gold.  Yet 
now,  if  Thou  wilt  forgive  their  sin  .  .  . 
if  not,  blot  me,  I  pray  Thee,  out  of  Thy 
book  which  Thou  hast  written." 

Sympathy  is  the  most  direct  road  to  the 
human  heart.  It  touches  hidden  springs, 
and  awakens  the  sense  of  brotherhood  ob- 
scured and  buried  by  sin.  The  inmate  of  a 
prison   once   sent   for  H.   C.  Trumbull  and 


MISSIONS  AND  THE   HEROIC  159 

asked,  "  Did  you  mean  what  you  said  about 
sympathizing  with  us  when  you  asserted  that 
the  only  difference  between  yourself  and  us 
was  the  grace  of  God  ?  "  Being  answered  in 
the  affirmative,  the  prisoner  said,  "  I  am  here 
for  life  ;  but  I  can  stay  here  more  contentedly, 
now  that  I  know  I  have  a  brother  in  the 
world."  The  touch  of  sympathy  saved  him. 
He  lived  to  be  pardoned,  and  died  thanking 
God  for  brotherhood. 

Heroic  purpose  is  invincible  in  almost  any 
field.  The  world  may  give  battle,  but  in  the 
end  it  surrenders,  because  courage  born  of 
purpose  knows  no  defeat.  It  is  persistent — 
deathless.  *'  To  this  military  attitude  of  the 
soul,"  says  Emerson,  *'  we  give  the  name  of 
heroism." 

Plutarch  says,  "Marcius  inquired  of  Co- 
minius  in  what  manner  the  enemy's  army 
was  drawn  up  and  where  their  best  troops 
were  posted.  Being  answered  that  the  An- 
tinates,  who  were  placed  in  the  centre,  were 
supposed  to  be  the  bravest  and  most  warlike, 
'I  beg  it  of  you  then,'  said  Marcius,  *as  a 
favour,  that  you  will  place  me  directly  oppo- 
site to  them.'  " 

The  annals  of  Christian  missions,  at  home 
and  abroad,  have  not  been  lacking  in  illus- 
tration of  the  desire  to  serve  where  the  odds 


l6o  MISSIONS  AND  THE  HEROIC 

were  greatest  and  the  fight  thickest.  "  What- 
ever vocation  may  determine  your  sphere  of 
Leadership,  be  brave  enough  to  choose,  and 
be  chosen  by,  something  that  will  require  you 
to  strain  your  best  powers.  Let  the  unsolved 
problems  of  your  day  enter  into  your  hearts 
and  minds  until  they  are  as  personal  to  you 
as  the  affairs  of  your  own  family.  Do  not 
seek  for  ease,  which  is  the  portion  of  babes, 
not  of  men.  Seek  for  tasks,  hard  tasks,  for 
the  doing  of  which  strength  is  needed,  and 
in  the  doing  of  which  strength  will  come."  ^ 

Self-sacrifice  is  one  of  the  infallible  tests  of 
heroic  manhood  and  womanhood.  It  is  not 
confined  to  missions,  but  is  found  in  every 
walk  of  life,  and  often  where  least  expected. 
The  world  may  not  always  be  capable  of  self- 
sacrifice,  but  it  looks  for  it,  expects  it,  and  is 
disappointed  in  its  man  when  it  fails  to  find  it. 
It  is  in  the  denial  of  self  pushed  to  the  point  of 
the  laying  down  of  life,  that  men  find  the 
faith  that  displaces  doubt,  the  strength  that 
replaces  weakness,  and  the  courage  which 
drives  away  fear,  looks  death  in  the  face  un- 
afraid, and  does  its  duty. 

President  Woodrow  Wilson  says  of  the  test 
of  manhood  : 

"  Life  lasts  only  a  little  while,  but  if  it  goes 

^  Bishop  Brent,  "  Leadership,"  pp.  245-246. 


MISSIONS  AND   THE  HEROIC  l6l 

out  lighted  with  the  torch  of  glory,  it  is  better 
than  if  it  had  lasted  upon  a  dull  level  a  thou- 
sand years.  .  .  .  That  is  the  test  of  man- 
hood, it  is  the  test  of  humanity,  and  it  is  the 
glory  and  sign  of  Christianity,  that  a  man 
will  lay  down  his  life  for  another,  no  matter 
what  the  consequence  may  be  to  himself." 

These  words  were  illustrated  in  a  most 
striking  way  not  long  after  they  were  ut- 
tered. It  was  in  the  heroic  self-sacrifice  of 
William  Carr,  engineer  on  the  Philadelphia- 
New  York  express.  The  boiler  flues  blew 
out,  covering  him  with  scalding  steam. 
Blinded,  and  in  mortal  agony,  **  Carr  closed 
the  throttle  and  put  the  air-brake  control  full 
over,  so  that  the  wheels  slid  grinding  on  the 
rails.  Then  he  fell  dying  on  the  floor  of  the 
cab."  Albert,  King  of  the  Belgians,  who 
with  Queen  Elizabeth  has  shared  the  sorrows 
and  privations  of  his  people,  was  compli- 
mented by  a  correspondent  as  being  the  hero 
of  the  European  War.  His  reply  was  worthy 
of  a  great  soul — "  I  am  no  hero  ;  the  heroes 
are  in  the  trenches." 

Heroism  is  anything  but  great  acting.  It 
is  greatness  in  action.  There  is  nothing  of 
the  spectacular  about  it.  Let  consciousness 
come  and  heroism  dies.  It  is  high  deeds 
born  of  high  feeling,  and  high  ideals  and  of 


l62  MISSIONS  AND   THE   HEROIC 

unquestioning  faith  in  God.  There  is  no 
weighing  of  probabilities  and  nice  balancing 
of  expediency  with  obligation,  but  a  fine  con- 
tempt for  safety  and  ease  which  leads  to  the 
abandonment  of  everything  for  the  one  great 
purpose  of  life.  It  is  a  quality  of  which  the 
true  hero  is  unconscious  ;  a  quality  that  makes 
him  "  negligent  of  expense,  of  health,  of  life, 
of  danger,  of  hatred,  of  reproach." 

Where  is  there  a  more  illustrious  example 
of  heroism  than  in  the  life  of  him  of  whom  it 
is  recorded  that  he  deliberately  refused  to  be 
called  the  son  of  a  princess,  *'  choosing  rather 
to  share  ill  treatment  with  the  people  of  God 
than  to  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  sin  for  a  sea- 
son ;  accounting  the  reproach  of  Christ 
greater  riches  than  the  treasures  of  Egypt." 
Nor  did  he  fear  the  wrath  of  the  king  :  "for 
he  endured  as  seeing  Him  who  is  invisible." 

The  great  lawgiver  of  Israel  stood  before 
the  burning  bush.  In  that  moment  the  shep- 
herd became  the  seer.  A  vision  of  deliver- 
ance from  bondage  for  the  people  of  God 
came  to  him  and  their  restoration  to  the  land 
of  promise.  It  was  to  be  by  the  way  of  the 
wilderness,  through  toil  and  suffering,  and  he 
was  to  bear  the  brunt  of  it  all.  But  his  was 
a  heroic  soul.  Wealth,  and  honour  and  high 
office  had  not  dimmed  its  lustre,  nor  impover- 


MISSIONS   AND   THE  HEROIC  163 

ished  the  strength  of  his  purpose.  Slavery, 
however,  was  eating  out  the  heart  of  his 
people,  and  undermining  their  character. 
They  had  lost  faith  in  God,  had  become 
grossly  materialistic,  and  were  already  a 
nation  with  craven  spirit,  bending  their 
backs  and  driven  like  dumb  beasts  before 
the  lash  of  their  Egyptian  taskmasters.  Self- 
denial,  courage  and  the  inspiration  of  a  great 
idea  could  alone  save  them.  Moses  knew  it 
and  gave  himself  to  his  God-given  task.  It 
was  to  build  character  and  brave  men  out  of 
cowards  and  weld  a  nation  out  of  a  mass  of 
slaves.  When  did  one  man  ever  have  a 
greater  mission?  ''If  thou  art  an  anvil," 
says  an  African  proverb,  '*  be  patient.  If 
thou  art  a  hammer  strike  hard  !  " 

"  Ideality,  magnanimity,  and  bravery  then  ; 
these  are  what  make  the  heroes.  These  are 
what  glorify  certain  lives  that  stand  through 
history  as  the  lights  and  beacons  of  mankind. 
The  materialist,  the  sceptic,  the  coward,  he 
cannot  be  a  hero.  We  talk  sometimes  about 
the  unheroic  character  of  modern  life.  We 
say  that  there  can  be  no  heroes  nowadays. 
We  point  to  our  luxurious  living  for  the 
reason.  But  oh,  my  friends,  it  is  not  in  your 
silks  and  satins,  not  in  your  costly  houses  and 
your  sumptuous  tables,  that  your  unheroic 


l64  MISSIONS  AND  THE  HEROIC 

lives  consist.  It  is  in  the  absence  of  great 
inspiring  ideas,  of  generous  enthusiasms,  and 
of  the  courage  of  self-forgetfulness.  It  may 
be  that  you  must  throw  away  your  comfort- 
able living  to  get  these  things  ;  but  your  lack 
of  heroism  is  not  in  your  comfortable  living, 
but  in  the  absence  of  these  things.  Do  not 
blame  a  mere  accident  for  that  which  lies  so 
much  deeper."  ^ 

It  is  out  of  the  invisible  that  inspiration 
must  come  to  kindle  the  heroic  soul.  There 
are  no  limitations  in  that  realm.  The  motives 
that  are  material  and  the  impulses  that  are 
human  are  not  sufficient  to  more  than  gal- 
vanize into  action.  Relapse  inevitably  fol- 
lows. Inspiration  that  is  permanent  and 
faith  that  is  heroic  grow  not  so  much  out 
of  the  ability  to  subjugate  and  to  rule  as  out 
of  the  capacity  for  surrender — the  deliberate 
surrender  of  self  to  the  voice  out  of  the  blue 
— to  the  power  that  worketh  in  us.  Men 
who  are  full  of  achievement  are  not  so  much 
in  possession  of  a  great  purpose  as  that  they 
are  mastered  by  it. 

The  world  is  not  poverty  stricken  for  lack 
of  heroic  men  and  women.  It  is  indeed  the 
poorer   for   the   death  of   men  like  Captain 

1  Phillips  Brooks,  Sermons,  "  The  Heroism  of  Foreign 
Missions,"  pp.  173,  174. 


MISSIONS  AND  THE  HEROIC  165 

Robert  Falconer  Scott  who,  with  his  im- 
mortal four,  faced  incredible  odds,  reached 
the  pole  and  perished  on  the  return  within 
eleven  miles  of  the  camp.  But  it  is  richer 
for  the  magnificent  heroism  of  Captain  Oates, 
that  brave  soul  who,  frost-bitten  beyond  re- 
covery and  knowing  the  chances  of  the  rest 
would  be  better  without  him,  said  quietly, 
*'  I  am  just  going  outside  and  may  be  some 
time,"  stepped  into  the  blizzard  and  never 
returned.  It  was  to  give  the  other  men  a 
chance. 

"  Fuel  for  one  hot  meal  and  food  for  two 
days,"  is  Scott's  last  entry  in  the  journal. 
**  We  are  weak.  Writing  is  difficult,  but  for 
my  own  sake  I  do  not  regret  this  journey, 
which  has  shown  that  Englishmen  can  endure 
hardships,  help  one  another,  and  meet  death 
with  as  great  fortitude  as  ever  in  the  past. 
.  .  .  Things  have  come  out  against  us 
and  therefore  we  have  no  cause  of  complaint, 
but  bow  to  the  will  of  Providence,  determined 
still  to  do  our  best  to  the  last." 

Should  the  torch  of  heroism  in  the  state  of 
Tennessee  go  out,  there  is  a  flame  on  yon 
capitol  hill  which  will  ever  rekindle  it.  It  is 
the  spirit  of  young  Davis  who  accepted  death 
rather  than  life  with  dishonour  and  stepped 
without  a  tremor  upon  the  threshold  of  the 


l66  MISSIONS  AND   THE   HEROIC 

beyond  with  the  words  :  "  I  had  rather  die  a 
thousand  times  than  betray  my  trust." 

The  ring  of  that  sentiment  has  in  it  the 
spirit  of  men  who  live  to  dare  and  who  dare 
to  die — men  to  whom  a  trust  is  more  sacred 
than  Ufe,  than  a  thousand  Hves.  If  such  men 
are  in  the  loins  of  the  future,  both  Church  and 
State  are  safe.  Without  them  our  posterity 
shall  miserably  perish  from  the  earth  and  our 
Christian  civilization  with  them. 

"  I  like  the  man  who  faces  what  he  must, 
With  a  step  triumphant,  and  a  heart  of  cheer, 
Who  fights  the  daily  battle  without  fear, 
Sees  his  hopes  fail,  yet  keeps  unfaltering  trust  — 
That  God  is  God  ;  that  somehow  true,  and  just, 
His  plans  work  out  for  mortals ;  not  a  tear 
Is  shed  when  fortune,  which  the  world  holds  dear. 
Falls  from  his  grasp ;  better,  with  love  a  crust 
Than  living  in  dishonour ;  envies  not 
Nor  loses  faith  in  man ;  but  does  his  best. 
Nor  ever  murmurs  at  his  humble  lot, 
But  with  a  smile  and  words  of  hope,  gives  zest 
To  every  toiler ;  he  alone  is  great 
Who  by  a  life  heroic  conquers  fate." 

More  than  a  century  ago  a  lone  figure  of  a 
young  man  could  be  seen  kneeling  in  the  for- 
est of  New  England.  He  wrestles  for  his 
Indians  until  the  sweat  from  his  brow  falls 
upon  the  spotless  snow.  We  go  back  to  his 
journal  for  a  glimpse  of  his  life :  "  My  diet 


MISSIONS  AND   THE   HEROIC  167 

consists  mostly  of  hasty-pudding,  boiled  corn, 
and  bread  baked  in  the  ashes,  and  sometimes 
a  little  meat  and  butter.  My  lodging  is  a 
little  heap  of  straw,  laid  upon  some  boards  a 
little  way  from  the  ground,  for  it  is  a  log 
room  without  any  floor  that  I  lodge  in.  I 
have  now  rode  more  than  3,000  miles  (on 
horseback)  since  the  beginning  of  March 
(eight  months).  .  .  .  Frequently  got  lost 
in  the  woods.  ...  At  night  lodged  in 
the  open  woods.  .  .  .  Crept  into  a  little 
crib  made  for  corn  and  slept  there  on  the 
poles." 

Does  David  Brainerd  waver  in  his  pur- 
pose? Does  he  regret  his  choice?  He  is 
incessantly  at  work,  preaching  to  the  Indians, 
catechizing  them,  "  moving  among  them  like 
an  angel  of  light,  pleading  with  them  in  the 
name  of  Christ,  and  pleading  their  cause 
against  greedy  and  unprincipled  whites,  who 
sought  to  corrupt  and  rob  them,  and  ceasing 
not  his  arduous  and  self-sacrificing  labours 
for  their  temporal  and  spiritual  welfare  until 
his  strength  was  finally  exhausted  and  his 
life  worn  out.  Then,  by  slow  and  painful 
journeys,  he  made  his  way  back  to  his  native 
New  England  to  die." 

Upon  his  death-bed  he  continued  to  plead 
for  his  beloved  Indians,  and  stayed  not  his 


l68  MISSIONS   AND   THE   HEROIC 

intercession  until  his  brother  John  consented 
to  take  up  his  task.  As  we  see  the  brother 
by  the  bedside  catching  the  mantle  of  power, 
and  Edwards,  the  great  preacher,  with  evan- 
gelistic fires  beginning  to  glow  and  burn 
within  his  breast,  we  realize  that  One  other 
Person  is  with  them  and  we  recall  the  words 
of  Browning : 

*'  'Tis  the  weakness  in  strength,  that  I  cry  for !  my 

flesh,  that  I  seek 
In  the  Godhead  !     I  seek  and  I  find  it.     O  Saul,  it 

shall  be 
A  Face  like  my  face  that  receives  thee ;  a  man  like 

to  me, 
Thou  shalt  love  and  be  loved  by  forever ;  a  Hand 

like  this  hand 
Shall  throw  open  the  gates  of  a  new  life  to  thee  ! 

See  the  Christ  stand." 

There  can  be  no  true  leadership  among 
primitive  people  without  the  heroic.  One 
element  of  it  is  courage,  without  which  the 
white  man  will  be  held  in  contempt.  But 
deeper  than  personal  prowess  is  the  element 
of  disinterestedness,  of  inflexible  purpose,  and 
of  absolute  truthfulness  embedded  in  the  char- 
acter. It  is  character  that  tells,  whether  in 
pioneering  an  unexplored  region,  in  estab- 
lishing a  mission,  or  a  colony,  or  in  carrying 


MISSIONS  AND  THE  HEROIC  169 

forward  a  great  administrative  policy  in 
Church  or  State. 

The  native  is  not  deficient  in  physical  cour- 
age. An  African  hunter  returned  at  nightfall 
to  find  a  leopard  had  visited  his  hut  and 
dragged  his  wife  into  the  forest.  Following 
the  trail  of  blood,  he  came  upon  the  remains 
of  the  partially  devoured  body.  He  vowed 
vengeance,  swift  and  sure,  upon  the  savage 
beast.  Returning,  he  cooked  and  ate  his 
meal  that  he  might  be  strong,  sharpened  his 
knife  and  spear,  tightened  his  belt  and  re- 
entered the  forest.  The  branch  of  a  palm 
tree  and  a  bunch  of  elephant  grass  served 
for  a  covering  as  he  pulled  the  body  of  his 
wife  to  his  breast.  Here,  seated  with  his 
back  against  a  tree,  he  calmly  waited  through 
the  long  hours  for  the  return  of  the  leopard. 
Sniffing  the  earth,  he  stealthily  approached 
and  sprang  upon  his  victim.  Together  they 
rolled  upon  the  ground  in  a  life  and  death 
struggle.  At  last,  the  hunter's  knife  went 
home,  and  he  was  avenged,  but  not  before  his 
own  side  and  shoulder  were  terribly  lacerated 
by  the  claws  of  the  wild  beast. 

Who  can  conceal  admiration  for  prowess 
like  that  ?  The  Belgian  officer  who  told  me 
the  story  did  not  attempt  to  conceal  it.  He 
thought  the  African  would  make  a  great  sol- 


lyo  MISSIONS   AND   THE  HEROIC 

dier.  I  thought  he  would  make  a  great 
Christian.  Such  courage  is  often  accom- 
panied in  a  native  by  loyalty  to  his  tribe,  or 
less  frequently  by  affection  for  his  family,  as 
in  this  case.  These  are  virtues,  however, 
which  easily  turn  to  vices.  Exaggerated 
they  may  run  riot  in  deadly  feuds  and  deeds 
of  personal  revenge.  Given  an  adequate 
motive,  high  purpose  and  faith  in  God  on 
the  other  hand,  and  enduring  character  can 
be  built  out  of  such  material.  It  is  being 
done  on  every  mission  station,  and  in  every 
field  in  the  name  and  by  the  power  of  the 
Christ. 

The  heroic  aim  and  controlling  purpose  of 
Jesus  Christ  was  to  save  men.  It  was  this 
aim  in  union  with  the  will  and  plan  of  God 
that  brought  Him  from  heaven  and  led  to  the 
emptying  of  Himself.  It  was  this  controlling 
purpose  that  dominated  His  incarnate  life,  in- 
spired His  ministry,  strengthened  Him  in  His 
sufferings,  and  supported  Him  in  His  agony 
in  the  garden  and  upon  the  cross.  Mag- 
nanimity and  serenity,  majesty  and  strength 
are  all  His.  Dore  brings  this  out  with  a  master 
hand  in  his  *'  Christ  before  the  Prsetorium." 
The  trial  is  over  and  judgment  passed.  An 
excited  throng  of  Jewish  fanatics  are  ready  to 
do  their  worst.    In  their  midst,  as  He  descends 


MISSIONS   AND   THE  HEROIC  lyi 

the  great  staircase,  is  the  majestic  figure  of 
the  Christ,  conscious  of  a  Presence  other  than 
theirs,  of  a  power  greater  than  that  of  the 
Roman  Empire,  and  of  a  peace  born  of  an 
abiding  faith  in  God.  Very  man,  very  God. 
Christ  is  all  in  all.  He  it  is  who  interprets 
for  us  the  ministry  of  life  and  the  mystery  of 
death  ;  sweetens  obedience,  gives  new  cour- 
age and  hope,  inspires  our  ideals,  sustains  in 
the  bitterest  trials  and  gives  a  new  and  deeper 
meaning  to  fellowship  in  suffering  and  to  the 
joy  of  service. 

The  task  of  winning  the  world  measured 
by  any  human  standard  is  an  impossible  one. 
The  difficulties  viewed  from  any  standpoint 
are  insurmountable.  They  are  enough  to 
make  the  most  resolute  and  intrepid  soul 
draw  back.  If  the  warfare  were  to  be  waged 
among  brutal  and  beastly  men,  it  would  be 
enough  to  test  the  faith  of  the  stoutest  heart. 
But  it  is  carried  into  the  realm  of  spirits  and 
means  a  conflict  with  the  organized  powers 
of  darkness  led  by  the  prince  of  this  world. 
The  disciples  fell  back  appalled  when  Jesus 
entered  the  shades  of  death  and  passed 
through  the  portal  of  the  grave.  All  seemed 
lost.  But  with  His  resurrection  was  born  a 
new  hope.  Despair  in  the  presence  of  lost 
men,  degraded  women  and  disorganized  so* 


172  MISSIONS  AND   THE   HEROIC 

ciety  no  longer  stared  them  in  the  face. 
Christ  lived  and  with  Him  they  too  lived  and 
wrought  in  a  redeemed  world,  and  realized 
that  by  the  power  of  the  Spirit  of  God  through 
Him  they  were  to  become  more  than  con- 
querors. 

What  is  the  secret  of  His  conquering 
power?  Napoleon  was  right.  Not  might 
but  right,  not  heroic  force,  but  heroic  love. 
Not  men  driven,  but  men  led.  If  Christ  com- 
manded us  to  go  and  evangelize  the  world, 
and  that  was  the  end  of  it  all,  ours  would  be 
a  forlorn  hope  indeed.  But  when  He  com- 
mands. He  shares  with  us  the  journey,  the 
weariness,  the  watchings,  the  loneliness  and 
the  doing  of  the  task.  "  All  power  is  given 
unto  Me — go  ye  therefore  and  lo,  I  am  with 
you  alway  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." 
Light-hearted  and  joyous  should  be  the  mes- 
senger on  such  an  errand  for  '*  In  this  prom- 
ise our  Saviour  provides  for  an  extension  of 
His  personality  coequal  with  the  extension  of 
His  Church.  He  virtually  says  :  As  fully  as 
I  have  been  with  you  at  the  point  of  your  de- 
parture, *  beginning  at  Jerusalem,*  so  fully 
will  I  be  with  you  at  every  point  of  your  ar- 
rival, *  unto  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth/ 
This  I  believe  to  be  the  true  explanation  of 
our  Savioui's  words,  *  It  is  expedient  for  you 


MISSIONS   AND   THE  HEROIC  1 73 

that  I  go  away  ;  for  if  I  go  not  away,  the 
Comforter  will  not  come  ;  but  if  I  go  away,  I 
will  send  Him  unto  you.'  "  ^ 

Heroic  men  have  lived,  and  wrought,  and 
died,  that  there  may  be  more  heroic  men. 
The  world  is  not  simply  richer  because  they 
have  lived,  but  rather  because  they  have  suf- 
fered and  tasted  death.  It  is  the  divine  way. 
Sabatier  has  said,  "  Is  not  devotion  always 
blind  ?  That  a  furrow  be  fecund  it  must  have 
blood  and  tears  such  as  Augustine  called  the 
blood  of  the  soul."  Seldom  has  heroic  de- 
votion exceeded  that  of  Raymond  Lull.  He 
was  blind  enough  to  his  own  interests,  but  he 
cared  only  that  he  should  not  be  blind  to  the 
interest  of  the  Christ  to  whom  he  gave  a  pas- 
sionate love  without  reserve.  In  this  giving 
he  did  indeed  plow  a  furrow  along  the  north- 
ern coast  of  Africa  which  was  enriched  by 
self-denying  effort,  tears,  and  blood. 

His  preparation  for  missionary  service  was 
heroic.  Nine  years  of  lonely,  assiduous 
study,  a  large  part  of  which  was  given  with 
the  help  of  a  slave,  to  the  mastery  of  the 
Arabic  language,  is  a  proof  of  that.  His  ap- 
peal to  the  Church  was  heroic.  Time  after 
time  he  visited  monasteries,  universities, 
councils  and  Rome  itself  in  order  to  stir  an 

1  A.  J.  Gordon,  •'  The  Holy  Spirit  in  Missions,"  p.  79. 


174  MISSIONS   AND   THE   HEROIC 

interest  in  behalf  of  the  evangelization  of 
the  Mohammedan  world.  But  he  met  with 
apathy  or  rebuff.  His  zeal  was  heroic  in  that, 
while  detained  from  going  abroad,  he  laboured 
assiduously  for  the  conversion  of  the  Jews  at 
home.  And  who  could  do  that  without  run- 
ning counter  to  inveterate  prejudice  and 
hatred  of  the  Jew,  a  hatred  which  was  break- 
ing out  into  the  diabolical  inquisition. 

His  evangelistic  journeys  were  heroic. 
Alone,  he  visited  Cyprus,  landed  in  Syria  and 
penetrated  to  the  interior  of  Armenia,  still  in 
quest  of  the  Jew,  for  his  zeal  abated  not.  But 
it  was  his  repeated  missionary  journeys  to 
Africa  to  win  the  Mohammedans  to  the  Chris- 
tian faith,  and  which  ended  in  cruel  martyr- 
dom, that  brought  out  his  heroic  moral  cour- 
age and  remind  us  of  the  experiences  of  St. 
Paul. 

Never  in  the  annals  of  missions  has  there 
been  a  more  remarkable  example  of  sublime 
faith  and  courage  than  that  of  Mrs.  Adoniram 
Judson.  In  1824,  when  war  broke  out  be- 
tween Burmah  and  British  India,  the  Judsons 
were  living  at  Ava.  The  missionary  home 
was  entered  by  the  spotted  faced  executioner, 
a  tiger  in  human  form.  Doctor  Judson  was 
thrown  to  the  ground,  in  the  presence  of  his 
wife,  tied  and  dragged  to  the  death  prison. 


MISSIONS   AND   THE  HEROIC  1 75 

Loaded  with  from  three  to  five  pairs  of  fet- 
ters, he,  with  one  hundred  others,  remained 
a  prisoner  for  one  year  and  seven  months. 
It  was  during  this  period  of  awful  suspense 
that  the  faith  and  courage  of  this  remarkable 
woman  shone  with  undimmed  lustre. 

Day  after  day,  with  presents  and  entreaties 
she  sought  the  amelioration  of  her  husband's 
condition  at  the  hands  of  an  officer  **  whose 
face  exhibited  every  evil  passion,"  and  who 
constandy  reminded  her  that  she,  as  well  as 
the  prisoners,  was  absolutely  in  his  power. 
Reaching  her  husband  at  last,  who  with  his 
chain  was  barely  able  to  crawl  to  the  door, 
and  lingering  with  him  for  a  moment,  she 
was  thrust  away  with  the  words,  *'  Depart, 
or  we  will  pull  you  out."  Repulsed  by  the 
queen,  she  renewed  her  plea  for  seven 
months,  on  foot  and  in  the  tropical  sun, 
making  almost  daily  visits  to  some  member 
of  the  court.  Undismayed,  she  persisted  in 
her  efforts ;  won  the  confidence  of  the  keep- 
ers ;  secured  mats  for  the  prisoners  to  sleep 
on ;  brought  them  food,  and  kept  them 
cheered  with  hope  of  ultimate  relief,  when 
hope  with  them  had  died  out. 

Removed  to  a  remote  spot  in  the  interior, 
she  followed  the  unfortunate  captives  with 
her  babe  in  her  arms,  by  boat,  in  an  open 


176  MISSIONS  AND  THE  HEROIC 

cart,  and  on  foot — through  dust  and  almost 
unsupportable  heat.  Finding  them  in  a  di- 
lapidated building,  chained  two  and  two,  and 
suffering  from  fever  and  ulcerated  feet,  she 
determined  to  remain  near  by  that  she  might 
give  personal  succour  to  her  husband  and 
his  fellow  sufferers.  She  prevailed  upon  the 
jailer  to  give  her  "  a  wretched  little  room 
half-filled  with  grain  ;  and  in  that  filthy  place, 
without  bed,  chair,  table  or  any  other  com- 
fort, she  spent  the  next  six  months  of  wretch- 
edness." 

Attacked  with  tropical  dysentery,  a  cart 
journey  was  made  to  Ava  to  seek  food  and 
medicine  for  the  prisoners  and  for  herself. 
She  returned  in  such  an  emaciated  condition 
that  the  Bengalee  cook  burst  into  tears. 
This  faithful  servant  even  forgot  his  caste  in 
his  admiration  and  sympathy  ;  walked  miles 
to  carry  food  to  the  prisoners  to  save  Mrs. 
Judson's  strength,  and  returned  to  her  side 
to  render  any  service  that  might  be  required. 
Smallpox  attacked  her  child.  She,  herself, 
came  down  with  spotted  fever,  and  for  days 
her  life  was  despaired  of.  As  if  her  cup  of 
misery  was  not  yet  full,  no  nourishment 
could  be  found  for  the  child,  and  Judson 
himself  was  carried  off  to  an  obscure  prison. 
It  was  of  these  dark  days  she  writes  : 


MISSIONS  AND   THE   HEROIC  1 77 

"  If  ever  I  felt  the  value  and  efficacy  of 
prayer,  I  did  at  this  time.  I  could  not  rise 
from  my  couch  ;  I  could  make  no  efforts  to 
secure  my  husband  ;  I  could  only  plead  with 
that  great  and  powerful  Being  who  has  said, 
*  Call  upon  Me  in  the  day  of  trouble  and  I 
will  hear,  and  thou  shalt  glorify  Me  ; '  and 
who  made  me  at  this  time  feel  so  powerfully 
this  promise  that  I  became  quite  composed, 
feeling  assured  that  my  prayers  would  be  an- 
swered." 

God  could  not  fail  to  answer  such  prayers. 
Her  husband  was  found,  her  child  recovered, 
peace  was  restored,  they  returned  to  their 
mission  home  to  resume  their  work  ;  and 
when  the  vail  was  lifted  which  for  two  years 
had  prevented  news  from  reaching  America, 
the  Baptist  churches  were  so  thrilled  and 
aroused  from  their  lethargy  and  indifference 
by  the  sacrifices  and  sufferings  of  these  de- 
voted missionaries  that  there  followed  a  mis- 
sionary awakening  throughout  their  borders. 

What  the  world  owes  to  heroic  Christian 
endeavour  is  little  realized  and  cannot  be 
computed  in  terms  of  miles  travelled,  years 
of  vigilant  study  and  observation,  or  sermons 
preached.  The  Japanese  have  a  saying,  *•  Use 
not  a  foot  measure  ;  it  kills  the  work."  It  is 
the  spirit  of  his  art  which  creates  an  artist 


1 78  MISSIONS   AND   THE   HEROIC 

out  of  an  artisan,  and  it  is  the  unquenchable 
fire  of  a  great  purpose  which  makes  the  im- 
possible real.  And  yet  one  must  have  some- 
thing in  the  concrete  with  which  to  realize 
what  other  men  have  accomplished. 

Robert  Morrison  spent  fourteen  years, 
much  of  the  time  in  concealment,  painfully 
toiling  over  the  most  difficult  written  lan- 
guage in  the  world,  before  he  completed  his 
Chinese  dictionary  and  the  translation  of  the 
Bible.  In  doing  so,  however,  he  laid  the 
foundation  for  all  the  tremendous  literary 
work  done  by  missionaries  and  sinologues 
since  his  day,  and  a  most  valuable  contribu- 
tion to  the  evangelization  of  nearly  one-third 
of  the  population  of  the  globe. 

Grenfell  ranks  second  only  to  Livingstone 
and  Stanley  as  an  explorer  of  the  water- 
courses of  Central  Africa.  The  Belgian 
geographer,  A.  J.  Wauters,  speaks  of  him  as 
having  for  twenty-five  years  '*  succeeded,  as 
the  messenger  of  peace,  in  winning  the  con- 
fidence of  the  savage  natives  by  his  patience, 
tact  and  cleverness  and  in  irradiating  the  im- 
mense basin  of  the  Congo  by  his  itineraries 
and  in  endowing  its  geography  with  fixed 
points,  carefully  determined  by  astronomical 
observations." 

Excluding  the  Kasai  and  Sankuru  Rivers, 


MISSIONS  AND   THE   HEROIC  1 79 

Grenfell  revealed  nearly  all  the  tributaries  of 
this  immense  river  system  and  opened  the 
way  to  hundreds  of  tribes  unknown  and  in- 
accessible. This  was  done  by  heroic  and  un- 
remitting effort,  and  in  constant  peril.  His 
whale  boat  was  nearly  crushed  in  the  jaws  of 
a  hippopotamus  ;  one  of  his  boatmen  was 
seized  by  a  crocodile  and  held  for  five  min- 
utes before  the  monster  would  yield  his  prey  ; 
guards  were  necessary  as  a  protection  from 
the  flights  of  poisoned  arrows  along  the 
Lomami ;  food  was  scarce  and  bad  and  had 
often  to  be  eaten  in  his  hands  while  navigat- 
ing on  the  bow  of  his  boat  under  a  blistering 
tropical  sun.  Here,  day  after  day,  behind  his 
prismatic  compass  he  took  his  bearings  and 
night  after  night,  into  the  late  hours,  cor- 
rected the  work  by  observations  of  the  stars 
from  the  satellites  of  Jupiter. 

When,  one  after  another,  the  three  en- 
gineers sent  from  England  died  of  fever  on 
the  long  march  to  the  pool,  he  undertook  to 
transport  over  the  mountains  and  put  to- 
gether the  Peace,  a  steel  boat  seventy  feet 
long.  This  feat  was  performed  in  four 
months,  when  such  portage  took  Henry  M. 
Stanley  two  years. 

He  spoke  of  himself  as  an  old  man  at  fifty, 
with  digestion  ruined,  strength  impaired  by 


l8o  MISSIONS  AND  THE  HEROIC 

many  fevers,  and  the  burden  of  millions  of 
unsaved  human  beings,  whom  his  discoveries 
had  brought  to  light.  I  stood  at  his  grave  at 
Basoko,  nearly  one  thousand  miles  above 
Stanley  Pool,  and  remembered  that  he  fell 
with  his  face  towards  Uganda.  It  had  been 
his  cherished  hope  to  establish  a  chain  of 
stations  along  the  Aruwimi  until  the  workers 
of  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society  might  join 
hands  with  those  of  the  Anglican  Church. 
The  great  enterprise  has  been  left  to  others. 
When  realized  it  will  form  one  of  the  great 
barriers  to  the  Mohammedan  advance. 

The  leadership  of  a  great  soul — who  can 
adequately  unveil  its  loneliness,  its  hopes  and 
fears,  its  struggles  and  its  faith  ? 

"  That  rare  track  made  by  great  ones,  lone  and 
beaten 

Through  solitary  hours. 
Climbing  past  fear  and  fate  and  sin,  iron-eaten. 
To  godlier  powers  : 

"  A  road  of  lonely  morn  and  midnight,  sloping 
O'er  earth's  dim  bars  ; 
Where  out  at  last  the  soul,  life's  pinnacles  topping. 
Stands  with  the  stars." 

The  heroic  quality  is  a  part  of  all  clear, 
strong  thinking  and  conviction.  There  is  no 
conviction  without  honest  thought  and  thought 
that   is   shallow  and   evasive  is  not  honest. 


MISSIONS  AND   THE   HEROIC  l8l 

There  is  no  body  of  Christian  workers  who, 
more  than  missionary  leaders,  need  clearness 
of  thought  and  courage  of  conviction.  The 
cults  of  the  East  and  subtle  philosophies  of 
the  non-Christian  religions  are  not  to  be  met 
by  counter  subdeties,  but  by  masterful  state- 
ments of  the  truth.  No  such  statements  can 
be  made  unless  there  is  a  powerful  grasp  of 
fundamental  doctrines,  fearless  denunciation  of 
sin,  and  at  the  same  time  so  deep  a  sympathy 
for  the  man  who  does  the  sinning  as  to  pene- 
trate and  capture  the  citadel  of  his  life.  A 
viceroy  of  India  has  been  quoted  as  saying, 
"  Depend  upon  it,  you  will  never  rule  the 
East  save  through  the  heart." 

But  there  is  honest  doubt  in  the  world  as 
well  as  honest  conviction  and  it  must  be 
given  a  respectful  hearing.  Keen  intellects 
put  searching  questions  which  must  be  wel- 
comed without  flinching.  To  dodge  an  issue, 
or  to  parry  a  thrust  by  witticism  may  prove 
fatal  to  the  faith  of  the  enquirer.  It  is  here 
that  Christianity,  above  all  religions,  exalts 
personality.  Frank  and  manly  dealing  with 
serious  men  always  wins  respect.  Con- 
troversy rarely  convinces  men,  while  sym- 
pathy with  a  soul  struggling  for  light  dis- 
arms, creates  confidence  and  leads  to  sure 
foundation  for  belief. 


l82  MISSIONS  AND   THE   HEROIC 

Duff  in  India,  Martyn  in  Persia,  and  Ver- 
beck  in  Japan  were  past  masters  in  wielding 
argument  as  keen  as  any  Damascus  blade, 
and  yet  in  sympathy  had  the  breadth  which 
won  a  new  and  larger  brotherhood  in  Christ. 

The  heroism  of  the  pioneer  always  inspires 
admiration  ;  when  to  that  quality  is  joined  a 
sense  of  God  and  of  mission  as  in  the  case  of 
David  Livingstone,  a  man  is  well-nigh  in- 
vincible. A  quenchless  fire  burned  within 
his  bones.  He  had  the  missionary  restless- 
ness of  Paul,  and  could  say  with  the  Apostle, 
*'  But  none  of  these  things  move  me,  neither 
count  I  my  life  dear  unto  myself,  so  that  I 
might  finish  my  course  with  joy."  It  is  true 
that,  at  one  time,  difficulties  had  become  al- 
most insurmountable ;  he  had  been  repeat- 
edly prostrated  by  fever ;  his  life  was  in  con- 
stant jeopardy  ;  and  there  was  inadequate 
backing  from  England.  At  this  juncture  his 
brother  Charles  proposed  his  abandonment 
of  Africa  and  his  settlement  in  America.  His 
reply  settled  the  question  for  all  time  :  **  I 
am  a  missionary,  heart  and  soul.  God  had 
an  only  Son,  and  He  was  a  missionary  and 
a  physician." 

Neither  did  his  interest  in  scientific  investi- 
gation and  exploration  divert  him  for  a  single 
moment  from  the  one  great  purpose  of  his 


MISSIONS  AND  THE  HEROIC  183 

life.  The  geographer  was  submerged  in  the 
missionary.  Had  he  not  said,  *'  The  end  of 
the  geographical  feat  is  only  the  beginning 
of  the  enterprise."  His  was  a  great  concep- 
tion, and  a  noble  program.  The  geograph- 
ical feat  was  thirty  thousand  miles  on  foot, 
under  the  severest  privations,  the  discovery 
of  five  great  lakes,  many  rivers,  a  cataract 
mightier  than  our  Niagara,  scores  of  un- 
known languages,  and  hundreds  of  tribes 
unrecorded. 

The  suffering  and  endurance  of  the  last 
few  weeks  of  Livingstone's  life  seemed  al- 
most in  the  realm  of  the  superhuman.  His 
march  lay  through  a  district  drenched  with 
rain,  full  of  swamps  and  swollen  streams. 
His  clothing  was  threadbare.  Weakened  by 
months  of  privation,  hunger  and  disease,  the 
fogs  chilled  him  to  the  bone.  His  teeth  were 
broken,  his  legs  ulcerated,  and  pneumonia 
had  attacked  one  lung.  These  things  sapped 
his  strength,  but  did  not  shake  his  purpose. 
Nothing  could  do  that.  Nearly  thirty  years 
before  he  had  said  to  the  directors  of  the  So- 
ciety he  was  ready  *'to  go  anywhere — pro- 
vided it  be  forward." 

Here  is  the  record  on  his  last  birthday — 
March  19,  1873 — six  weeks  before  his  death. 
**  Thanks  to  the  Almighty  Preserver  of  men 


l84  MISSIONS   AND   THE   HEROIC 

for  sparing  me  thus  far  on  the  journey  of 
life.  Can  I  hope  for  ultimate  success  ?  So 
many  obstacles  have  arisen.  Let  not  Satan 
prevail  over  me,  O  my  good  Lord  Jesus." 
A  few  days  after  (24th  March),  •*  Nothing 
earthly  will  make  me  give  up  my  work  in 
despair.  I  encourage  myself  in  the  Lord 
my  God,  and  go  forward." 

If  faith  and  love  are  heroic,  so  must  mis- 
sionary motive  have  that  element  in  large 
degree.  No  life  of  high  endeavour  can  long 
be  sustained  without  an  adequate  motive. 
The  strain  will  be  too  great.  The  approba- 
tion of  others,  the  exhilaration  of  work,  and 
the  inspiration  of  success — none  of  these  are 
permanent.  Approbation  will  grow  stale, 
ardour  will  cool  as  the  fires  burn  low,  and 
the  glow  of  success  fade  away  into  gray 
ashes.  Motive  must  be  powerful  enough  to 
sustain,  and  big  enough  to  float  God's  plan 
for  a  man's  life  and  for  the  redemption  of  the 
world.  The  spirit  of  benevolence  is  not 
enough.  Mere  pity  will  die  when  sensibili- 
ties are  benumbed.  Duty — grim-visaged 
and  stern — will  hold  a  man  to  his  task  for 
years,  but  that  even  may  loosen  its  hold 
upon  the  life.  It  is  love,  the  constraining 
love  of  Jesus  Christ,  that  keeps  its  spring, 
energizes  the  will,  and  lightens  the  task  un- 


MISSIONS  AND   THE  HEROIC  185 

til   a   Christly  joy   is  fulfilled  in  doing  the 
things  that  are  well  pleasing  in  His  sight. 

No  man  is  worthy  of  a  world-wide  work 
who  will  lend  his  strength  and  his  gifts  to 
that  which  is  unworthy  of  his  vocation.  The 
gifts  and  time  of  a  truly  great  worker  in 
God's  workshop  are  unpurchasable.  God 
needs  men  who  cannot  be  bought.  Their 
time  and  strength  as  well  as  loyalty  are  His. 
Salary,  emoluments,  favours,  none  of  these 
things  move  such  a  man.  He  lives  in  the 
realm  of  high  art.  He  will  not  prostitute  his 
gifts  for  base  or  commercial  purposes.  This 
is  one  of  the  chief  things  which  distinguish 
him  from  the  mere  trader,  the  official  who  is 
a  time  server,  and  the  professional  man  who 
has  lost  his  ideals  and  is  commercialized. 
The  true  man  counts  not  his  wage.  He  is 
content  to  be  poor,  like  William  Carey  and 
his  colleagues  who  wrought  so  marvellously 
in  India,  commanding  the  respect  and  ad- 
miration of  governors  and  viceroys.  When 
the  sneers  of  Sydney  Smith  are  forgotten, 
"  the  nest  of  consecrated  cobblers  "  will  be 
remembered.  It  is  cheap  to  sneer ;  it  is 
costly  to  die ;  but  there  are  not  wanting 
heroic  men  and  women,  who  are  ready  to 
say  with  Paul,  "  None  of  these  things  move 
me,  neither  count  I  my  life  dear  unto  myself, 


l86  MISSIONS   AND   THE  HEROIC 

SO  that  I  might  finish  my  course  with  joy, 
and  the  ministry  which  I  have  received  of 
the  Lord  Jesus,  to  testify  the  gospel  of  the 
grace  of  God." 

Heroic  souls  live  in  deeds,  not  years  ;  find 
their  truest  joy  in  sacrifice,  and  at  the  end 
lay  down  their  lives  willingly  to  do  God's 
will.  Such  lives,  then,  are  not  measured  by 
length,  but  by  purpose  ;  not  so  much  by 
what  has  been  done,  as  by  what  they  would 
do  and  by  the  capacity  to  love  and  to  suffer. 

Four  years  ago.  Prof.  J.  W.  Gilbert  and  I 
stood  on  the  bank  of  the  mighty  Congo,  be- 
low Matadi,  and  parted  the  long  grass,  shoul- 
der high.  Our  eyes  fell  upon  a  grave.  We 
instinctively  uncovered,  for  we  stood  over 
the  sacred  dust  of  the  heroic  Alabamian, 
Samuel  J.  Lapsley,  who  twenty  years  before 
had  laid  down  his  young  life  for  the  redemp- 
tion of  Africa's  millions. 

At  Luebo  they  called  him  the  "  Pathfinder." 
For  two  years  he  had  tracked  the  forest, 
blazed  the  way  to  every  sick  mother  and  suf- 
fering child,  and  won  all  hearts  by  a  Christly 
ministry  tendered  with  his  own  hands.  It 
became  necessary  for  one  of  the  two  pioneer 
missionaries  to  make,  in  those  days,  the  long 
and  perilous  journey  down  the  Lulua,  Kasai 
and  Congo  Rivers  to  secure   a   concession 


MISSIONS  AND   THE  HEROIC  187 

from  the  Belgian  authorities.  Lapsley  went, 
leaving  Shepherd,  his  loyal  friend,  at  the  mis- 
sion station  to  care  for  the  work.  Days  ran 
into  weeks  and  weeks  into  months.  "  The 
boat  is  coming,  the  boat  is  coming,"  was 
shouted  along  the  hilltop.  A  wild  rush  was 
made  for  the  river  and  then  the  sad  news  that 
the  Pathfinder  they  loved  was  no  more.  He 
had  been  stricken  with  African  fever  upon 
the  long  three  hundred  mile  walk,  after  reach- 
ing Stanley  Pool. 

To  the  mission  and  to  the  home  Church 
the  loss  seemed  irreparable  and  to  some  the 
sacrifice  too  great.  But  out  of  that  heroic 
laying  down  of  a  man's  life  for  his  friends 
there  came  the  first  gleam  of  new  light  to  many 
darkened,  despairing  hearts,  and  then  the 
dawn  of  a  day  in  which  heathenish  men  and 
women  began  to  realize  the  power  of  the 
death  and  life  of  Him  who  is  the  light  of  the 
world.  A  transforming  force  began  to  work 
which  brought  them  into  a  new  relationship 
with  God  their  Father  and  with  one  another. 
Under  the  impulse  of  a  mighty  sense  of 
brotherhood  and  obligation  growing  out  of 
the  evangel  which  Lapsley  preached  and  lived, 
new  centres  of  influence  appeared  in  forest 
and  plain  until  hundreds  of  villages  have 
come  to  accept  the  Gospel,  nearly  four  hun- 


I88  MISSIONS   AND   THE   HEROIC 

dred  teachers  and  evangelists  to  proclaim  it, 
and  more  than  ten  thousand  staunch  believ- 
ers rejoice  in  redeeming  grace  and  in  the 
King's  Highway  out  of  darkness  into  light. 

Loyalty  to  a  purpose  always  commands  the 
admiration  of  men.  It  does  so  because  loy- 
alty costs,  and  men  in  all  ages  appreciate  the 
spirit  of  heroic  devotion  to  a  cause.  At  nine 
years  of  age  Hannibal  swore  before  the  altar 
of  his  gods,  near  the  Pillars  of  Hercules,  that 
he  would  nurse  **  eternal  enmity  to  Rome." 
Dominated  by  his  life  purpose,  he  measured 
himself  against  every  difficulty,  disciplined 
himself  to  suffering,  inspired  his  soldiers  to 
almost  superhuman  effort,  pierced  the  Alps, 
and  hurled  his  armies  against  the  ancient  foe 
of  Carthage.  Death  alone  could  quench  the 
fires  of  such  a  spirit — failure  could  not. 

Horace  Tracy  Pitkin  was  one  of  Yale's 
manliest  men.  *'  He  never  drifted  nor  fol- 
lowed the  crowd."  God  gave  him  a  vision 
of  China  and  of  duty,  and  he  gave  himself  to 
Christ  and  to  missionary  service.  He  had 
means  of  his  own,  but  surrendered  his  pref- 
erence for  self-support  to  become  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  Pilgrim  Church  in  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  regularly  paying  the  equivalent  of  his 
salary  to  the  work. 

"  He  was   the   only   student   volunteer   in 


MISSIONS  AND   THE  HEROIC  189 

college,"  says  Mr.  Eddy,  "  but  when  he  left 
Yale,  he  left  a  volunteer  band  of  twenty  of 
the  strongest  men  in  the  university.  He 
kindled  a  missionary  fire  which  in  these 
twenty  years  never  has  died  out,  and,  please 
God,  it  never  will.  When  he  left  Union 
Seminary  he  left  a  band  of  more  than  twenty 
of  the  strongest  men  as  volunteers.  Before 
leaving  this  country  he  had  raised  more  than 
one  hundred  men  who  actually  reached  the 
field." 

The  Boxer  Movement  came,  and  Pitkin  fell 
in  1900,  at  Pao  Ting  Fu,  defending  the  two 
ladies  of  the  mission  from  a  howling  mob. 
His  message  to  his  wife  was  characteristic  of 
the  Christian  martyrs  of  all  time  :  *'  God  was 
with  me  at  the  last,  His  peace  my  consola- 
tion. Send  our  little  boy  Horace  to  Yale  and 
tell  him  twenty-five  years  from  now  to  come 
out  to  take  up  my  work  in  China."  When  they 
recovered  his  body  for  burial,  '*  the  hands  were 
not  bound,  but  uplifted  as  if  in  prayer." 

The  harvest  from  blood  drops  sown  in  the 
twentieth  century  is  as  sure  as  in  the  first. 
Pitkin  had  not  lived  to  win  a  convert,  he  had 
not  lived  to  learn  the  language.  Fourteen 
short  years  go  by,  and  out  from  under  the 
arching  city  gate,  where  the  head  of  the 
young  hero  had  been  placed  as  a   trophy, 


I90  MISSIONS  AND   THE   HEROIC 

there  poured  a  throng  of  students  from  the 
ten  colleges  which  have  been  founded  in  that 
city  since  his  death.  Three  thousand  crowded 
the  great  Confucian  temple  to  hear  Mr.  Eddy 
and  others  present  the  claims  of  Christ,  and 
ninety  of  the  number  stood  in  the  presence 
of  that  body  of  men  and  deliberately  decided 
to  accept  Jesus  as  their  Saviour  and  Lord. 

To  win  the  strongholds  of  the  world  there 
must  be  much  heroic  praying.  No  mere 
platitudes  will  do  here.  Missionary  prayers 
are  almost  military  in  character.  They  do 
not  underestimate  the  strength  of  the  enemy, 
but  are  confident  he  will  be  defeated  ;  they 
take  account  of  the  strategy  of  the  evil  one ; 
they  strengthen  the  base  line  of  faith  ;  they 
keep  the  lines  of  communication  open  ;  they 
draw  upon  the  reserve  forces  of  the  invisible 
world  ;  keep  on  the  aggressive  and  are  ready 
to  follow  up  the  victory  when  won. 

Who  can  estimate  the  contribution  of  Gen- 
eral Charles  Gordon,  who  fell  at  Khartoum,  to 
the  evangelization  of  the  Soudan  ?  His  letters 
to  his  sister  reveal  his  inner  life.  He  ruled 
as  he  prayed,  and  prayed  more  than  he 
ruled.  With  what  respect  did  his  couriers 
regard  the  white  handkerchief  upon  the  sand 
in  front  of  his  tent  door.  In  almost  reverent 
silence  they  waited,  for  Gordon  was  praying. 


MISSIONS  AND   THE  HEROIC  191 

The  daily  intercession  in  an  humble  Scotch 
home  gave  three  lads  to  the  ministry  and  one 
of  these  was  John  G.  Paton.  "  We  occasion- 
ally heard,"  he  writes,  '*  the  pathetic  echoes  of 
a  trembling  voice,  pleading  as  for  life  ;  and 
we  learned  to  slip  out  and  in  past  that  door 
on  tiptoe,  not  to  disturb  that  holy  colloquy." 
It  was  his  father  closeted  with  God  in  that 
little  mid-room  of  the  cottage  used  as  a  family 
sanctuary — the  room  between  the  shop  on 
the  one  side  and  the  living-room  of  the 
family  on  the  other.  To  this  sanctuary  the 
head  of  the  family  was  wont  to  retire  after  a 
meal  to  offer  those  petitions  which  kindled  a 
quenchless  fire  of  missionary  heroism. 

In  a  quiet  English  home  a  baby  boy  was 
dedicated  to  the  Lord,  like  Samuel  from  his 
birth,  and  continued  to  be  the  subject  of 
parental  prayer.  The  mother  on  a  visit 
sixty  miles  away  sets  apart  a  season  every 
day  for  special  intercession,  and  waits  upon 
God  until  confident  her  prayer  has  been  an- 
swered. At  that  very  hour  her  son  reads  a 
religious  tract  which  leads  to  his  conversion, 
and  Hudson  Taylor  becomes  a  missionary. 
He  it  is  who,  in  after  years,  agonizes  for 
China's  millions,  is  given  an  assurance  of 
the  leading  of  the  Spirit,  throws  the  respon- 
sibility for   labourers  and  funds  upon  God, 


192  MISSIONS   AND   THE   HEROIC 

and  pioneers  the  China  Inland  Mission.  He 
honoured  God  and  God  honoured  him  with 
a  mighty  enduement  of  power  and  with  mar- 
vellous achievement  until  a  thousand  mis- 
sionaries, and  more,  are  at  work  in  the 
world's  greatest  mission  field,  and  are  held 
there  by  prayer  and  by  heroic  faith. 

The  tender-hearted  Galilean  conquers  not 
by  the  heroic  smiting  of  the  sword,  but  by 
the  sceptre  of  a  heroic  love.  It  was  the 
famous  Corsican  who  said  with  sadness,  on 
St.  Helena,  that  thousands  of  brave  men  had 
followed  him  into  batde,  but  not  one  would 
now  die  at  his  command,  while  for  Jesus 
Christ,  who  lived  nearly  twenty  centuries 
ago,  millions  would  lay  down  their  lives. 
The  aged  Polycarp  of  Smyrna  stood  at  the 
stake.  While  the  faggots  were  piled  about 
him,  he  was  given  a  last  opportunity  to  re- 
cant— *'  Eighty  and  six  years  have  I  been 
His  servant,"  was  his  answer — ''  and  He 
never  did  me  an  injury,  how  then  can  I 
blaspheme  my  King,  who  is  my  Saviour  ! " 

We  believe  the  world  can  be  won,  not  be- 
cause of  its  Napoleons,  but  because  of  its 
Poly  carps — not  by  the  sword,  but  by  a 
deathless  love.  It  can  be  won  because  we 
have  a  Gospel  equal  to  the  task.  If  it  has 
saved  one  man  it  can  save  the  race.      If  it 


MISSIONS  AND   THE   HEROIC  193 

has  met  the  need  of  mankind  in  the  past,  it 
can  meet  it  to-day  and  to-morrow.  To  say 
the  Gospel  is  a  failure,  when  men  refuse  to 
try  it  and  decline  to  live  by  it,  is  absurd.  It 
reaches  and  satisfies  man's  need  at  the  high- 
est points  of  his  nature  and  at  the  lowest. 
Coleridge  could  afBrm  his  confidence  in  the 
divine  origin  and  power  of  the  Scripture  be- 
cause it  found  him  at  deeper  depths  of  his 
being  than  any  other  writing,  and  Paul  could 
say :  *'  Yea,  verily,  and  I  count  all  things  to 
be  loss  for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge 
of  Christ  Jesus  my  Lord."  We  know  it  will 
win  because  it  is  a  conquering  force ;  meets 
the  deepest  need  of  humanity  ;  has  been  fully 
tested  ;  has  won  where  everything  else  has 
failed  ;  and,  finally,  because  He  who  is  the 
Way,  the  Truth  and  the  Life  is  at  the  heart 
of  the  Gospel — is  Himself  the  Gospel. 

In  1886,  there  was  a  Chinese  preacher  in 
Peking  by  the  name  of  Chang,  an  untiring 
evangelist  and  personal  worker  who  helped 
me  much  when  I  was  in  charge  of  the 
Methodist  Hospital  in  that  city.  I  moved 
to  Japan.  Several  years  elapsed.  The  Boxer 
Movement  came  and  went,  and  swept  every- 
thing clean.  Not  a  vestige  remained  of  hos- 
pital, church  and  school,  but  these  were  re- 
built. 


194  MISSIONS  AND   THE  HEROIC 

Upon  a  visit  to  the  mission  I  met  the 
young  pastor.  He  was  the  son  of  the  evan- 
gelist. I  inquired  for  his  father  and  mother. 
He  hesitated  for  a  moment,  his  Hps  quivering, 
and  then  told  the  story  of  their  martyrdom. 

His  father  was  in  charge  of  a  church  be- 
yond the  Great  Wall,  the  door  of  whose  par- 
sonage opened  towards  the  rolling  uplands  of 
Mongolia.  The  approach  of  the  Boxers  was 
reported,  but  the  preacher  held  to  his  post. 
It  seemed  imperative,  at  last,  to  leave.  He 
went  out  upon  the  highway  with  his  wife  and 
children,  scarcely  knowing  whither  to  direct 
his  steps.  The  fanatical  mob  followed,  and 
the  little  group  was  surrounded.  **  Renounce 
your  faith  in  Jesus,"  said  they.  "  I  cannot," 
was  the  calm  reply.  "  He  laid  down  His  life 
for  me."  With  their  dull  knives  they  hacked 
him  to  pieces.  Pointing  to  the  shapeless 
body,  they  turned  to  his  wife  and  said, 
**  Give  up  the  Jesus  doctrine,  or  you  suffer 
the  same  fate."  She  replied,  *'  My  husband 
led  me  along  this  way  for  many  years.  Jesus 
is  more  than  life  to  me.  Do  what  you  will." 
Her  mutilated  form  was  thrown  upon  that  of 
her  husband,  and  the  little  children  suffered 
the  same  fate.  It  was  a  terrible  story,  but  I 
thanked  God  for  the  heroic  spirit  of  it  all. 

That  night,  as  I  sat  at  the  table  of  the  mis- 


MISSIONS  AND   THE  HEROIC  195 

sionary  who  entertained  me,  I  referred  to  it. 
He  remarked,  "  It  is  all  true,  but  did  he  tell 
you  the  sequel  ?  "  '*  What  sequel,"  I  ex- 
claimed, **  could  there  be  to  such  a  story  ?  " 
This  was  the  sequel.  The  son  whom  I  had 
just  met  was  at  college  and  called  to  the 
ministry.  He  requested  that,  for  his  first 
work,  he  be  appointed  to  the  charge  where 
his  father  and  mother  had  lost  their  lives. 
He  received  the  appointment,  and  some  of 
the  very  men  whose  hands  were  stained  with 
the  blood  of  his  parents  were  led  to  Christ 
through  his  ministry.  Where  in  any  land 
has  the  constraining  power  of  the  love  of 
Jesus  Christ  had  a  more  beautiful  illustration 
or  reached  a  higher  level?  Does  not  the 
heroism  of  love  He  in  such  a  spirit  ?  "  Father 
forgive  them  ;  for  they  know  not  what  they 
do." 

True  greatness  of  soul  is  measured  by  the 
heroic  quality  of  its  faith.  To  win  a  world 
one  must  be  sure  of  the  basis  of  his  faith,  and 
then  have  the  audacity  to  project  it  into  the 
realm  of  the  unexplored  and  the  unconquered. 
It  is  not  a  man's  confidence  in  himself — that 
may  be  pure  egoism  ;  nor  in  his  power  of 
achievement — that  would  be  unwarranted 
assurance.  His  confidence  will  fail  him  in 
the  hour  of  trial.     He  must  have  faith  in  the 


196  MISSIONS  AND   THE   HEROIC 

sovereignty  and  the  love  of  God  as  well  as  in 
the  righteousness  and  the  greatness  of  his 
cause. 

The  most  heroic  element,  perhaps,  in  the 
character  of  Jesus  Christ  was  His  faith  in 
God.  It  was  unshakable,  immovable.  It 
held  Him  steadily  to  His  purpose.  It 
enabled  Him  to  face  unterrified  and  alone 
the  powers  of  death  and  hell  when  the 
sustaining  forces  of  nature  were  exhausted. 
It  filled  Him  with  peace  in  the  midst  of 
malignant  hate,  and  gave  Him  a  sublime 
confidence  in  the  success  of  His  mission.  By 
the  inspiration  of  His  own  faith  Jesus  brought 
a  group  of  men  to  beheve  that  they  too  might 
attempt  the  impossible.  That  belief  has 
never  died  out,  but  it  has  ever  been  to  its 
missionaries  that  the  Church  has  looked  for 
illustrations  of  daring  faith  and  a  quenchless 
hope. 

John  G.  Paton  and  his  wife,  young  and  un- 
tried missionaries,  were  sent  to  the  New 
Hebrides  group  where,  on  the  island  of  Er- 
romanga,  John  Williams  and  Harris  had 
been  clubbed  and  eaten.  One  of  their  first 
experiences  was  that  of  an  encounter  between 
hideous,  painted  savages,  more  like  devils 
than  men,  who  rent  the  air  with  frightful 
yells.     Five  were  killed  and  dragged  to  the 


MISSIONS  AND  THE  HEROIC  197 

edge  of  a  spring.  So  polluted  did  the  water 
become  that  tea  could  not  be  made  of  it,  and 
they  were  obliged  to  drink  the  juice  of  a 
cocoanut  instead.  A  sleepless  night  was 
passed.  The  shrieks  and  wails  from  the 
village  were  heartrending.  Women  were 
being  strangled  that  their  spirits  might  ac- 
company their  dead  husbands  into  the  nether 
world.  No  God,  no  sense  of  sin,  no  shame, 
no  natural  affection.  Nothing  but  ignorance, 
bigotry  and  vice.  All  nakedness,  and  murder, 
and  deceit.  Is  it  possible  to  do  anything  with 
them  ?  He  answers  the  question  in  his  jour- 
nal. The  God-idea  must  be  wrought  into 
their  consciousness.  It  had  been  done  on  the 
island  of  Aneityum,  and  it  could  be  done  on 
Tanna.  It  must  be  done.  **  Our  hearts  rose 
to  the  task  with  a  quenchless  hope." 

The  Church  with  the  vision  of  a  redeemed 
humanity  has  the  right  to  look  forward  to 
the  consummation  of  her  hopes  of  an  evangel- 
ized world.  She  has  at  the  same  time  the 
inspiration  of  looking  back  over  her  history 
and  of  reviewing  the  long  roll  of  saints  and 
martyrs  who  were  faithful  unto  death.  In  all 
the  great  army  there  are  none  more  worthy 
than  those  in  ancient  days  who  laid  the  solid 
foundations  of  the  Kingdom  of  our  Lord  and 
cemented  them  by  their  blood. 


198  MISSIONS  AND   THE  HEROIC 

It  is  not  altogether  the  glamour  of  romance, 
and  the  lengthening  shadows  of  the  receding 
centuries  that  make  the  men  and  women  of 
the  past  great  in  stature.  Denied  the  revela- 
tion and  the  blessing  of  which  we  are  the 
heirs  of  all  the  ages,  they  saw  the  promises 
afar  off,  were  persuaded  and  embraced  them. 
It  was  this  magnificent  faith  which  swept  the 
heavens  with  telescopic  view,  believed  that 
out  of  the  inter-stellar  depths,  which  their 
eyes  might  never  fathom,  would  burst  upon 
the  world  the  Bright  and  Morning  Star. 
These  are  they  *'  who  through  faith  subdued 
kingdoms,  wrought  righteousness,  obtained 
promises,  stopped  the  mouths  of  lions, 
quenched  the  power  of  fire,  escaped  the 
edge  of  the  sword,  from  weakness  were 
made  strong,  waxed  mighty  in  war,  turned 
to  flight  armies  of  aliens.'* 

"  The  Son  of  God  goes  forth  to  war, 
A  kingly  crown  to  gain ; 
His  blood-red  banner  streams  afar; 
Who  follows  in  His  train  ? 

"  Who  best  can  drink  His  cup  of  woe 
Triumphant  over  pain ; 
Who  patient  bears  His  cross  below 
He  follows  in  His  train. 


MISSIONS  AND  THE  HEROIC  1 99 

**  A  glorious  band,  the  chosen  fevy 
On  whom  the  Spirit  came ; 
Twelve  valiant  saints,  their  hope  they  knew 
And  mocked  the  cross  and  flame. 

**  They  climbed  the  steep  ascent  of  heaven 
Through  peril,  toil  and  pain  ; 
O  God,  to  us  may  grace  be  given 
To  follow  in  their  train." 


LECTURE  V 
A  MISSIONARY  CHURCH 


LECTURE  V 
A  MISSIONARY  CHURCH 

A  WORLD  cannot  be  won  save  by  a 
faith  that  lives  and  grows  and  con- 
quers. Such  faith  does  not  depend 
upon  tradition,  upon  a  creed,  upon  ritual, 
upon  socialized  religion,  nor  upon  the  au- 
thority of  the  Church.  Not  upon  any  or  all 
of  these  can  it  be  based.  It  must  stand  upon 
the  substance  of  things  unseen ;  upon  the 
impregnable  rock  of  the  very  Word  of  God  ; 
upon  a  personal  experience  with  Christ  as 
Saviour  and  Lord  wrought  out  in  the  soul — 
vital  and  constantly  being  renewed ;  upon 
the  witness  of  the  Spirit,  bearing  in  upon  our 
consciousness  **  the  inexpugnable  reality  of 
the  life  of  God  in  the  soul  of  man." 

This  heroism  of  faith  is  needed  as  much  by 
the  Church  at  home  as  by  the  missionary  in 
the  regions  beyond.  Chalmers  says,  "  Our 
chief  business  with  Christianity  is  to  proceed 
upon  it."  It  is  our  hesitation  that  imperils 
the  day,  and  our  slowness  to  proceed  upon 
a  divinely-ordered  program,  withheld  from 
203 


204  A  MISSIONARY  CHURCH 

angels,  but  outlined  for  man.  A  failure  to 
go  forward  with  world-wide  evangelization, 
when  the  world  is  ready  and  expectant,  ex- 
poses the  nations  which  have  broken  with 
paganism  to  greater  evils,  and  a  hesitant 
Church,  at  the  home  base,  to  the  paralysis 
which  comes  from  inaction. 

The  absence  of  a  positive  and  aggressive 
faith  always  opens  the  way  for  credulity.  A 
man  who  fails  to  believe  that  which  is  true 
and  to  act  upon  it  soon  finds  himself  open  to 
almost  every  form  of  untruth.  It  explains 
why  in  an  age  of  doubt  so  many  exaggerated 
forms  of  mischief  exist.  They  creep  unbidden 
into  the  mind  and  heart  and  take  possession. 
Is  it  not  here  that  the  parable  of  the  evil  spir- 
its has  its  application  ?  When  the  evil  spirit 
which  went  out  of  the  man  returned  and  found 
his  house  empty,  swept  and  garnished,  seven 
other  spirits  more  evil  than  himself  entered 
in  and  dwelt  there.  Empty  I  No  truth,  no 
faith,  no  purpose,  no  expulsive  power  of  a 
new  affection,  no  master  passion  from  God 
to  become  the  occupant. 

Men  who  can  lead  and  have  large  capacity 
for  leadership  are  needed  here  and  there. 
But  it  is  the  common  man  that  God  seeks 
most,  finds  oftenest,  and  uses  in  His  King- 
dom.    It  is  not  the  wise  and  mighty,  but  he 


A   MISSIONARY   CHURCH  205 

that  is  humble  and  lowly  whom  He  delights 
to  honour.  The  humble  earthen  vessel, 
though  seamed  and  scarred,  takes  on  a  new 
lustre  under  the  divine  touch,  is  filled  with  a 
new  spirit  and  is  transformed  into  a  vessel 
of  honour.  It  is  ever  the  mission  of  the 
higher  in  Christianity  to  seek  the  lower,  and 
the  glory  of  the  lower  to  be  lifted  up  by  serv- 
ice into  the  higher. 

The  Church  is  set  for  the  exaltation  of 
Christ  and  for  the  progress  of  the  Kingdom. 
This  should  be  the  supreme  expression  of  her 
desire,  and  the  burden  of  her  prayer.  There 
can  be  neither  spiritual  growth  nor  true  prog- 
ress without  the  exaltation  of  her  Lord  ;  and 
to  exalt  her  Lord  is  to  ensure  her  enlarge- 
ment and  her  glory.  No  program  will  se- 
cure it,  no  creed,  no  ritual,  no  councils,  no 
decrees,  no  priestly  authority — only  an  up- 
lifted Christ. 

The  Church  should  ever  be  ready  to  sound 
the  note  of  faith  and  courage — faith  that  com- 
pels an  expanding  horizon,  and  courage  in- 
telligent enough  to  weigh,  then  dare.  If  ex- 
plorers are  eager  to  penetrate  regions  yet 
unknown,  why  not  the  Church  the  areas  of 
divine  love,  only  the  fringes  of  which  we  have 
been  able  to  touch.  If  scientists  search  the 
mysteries  of  nature,  why  not  the  Church  the 


206  A   MISSIONARY   CHURCH 

hidden  springs  of  grace  ;  if  merchants  are 
seeking  for  new  markets,  why  not  the  Church 
for  new  fields ;  if  militarism  is  bent  upon  the 
destruction  of  humanity,  why  not  the  Church 
bestow  its  energies  not  upon  the  re-creation 
of  humanity  alone,  but  upon  the  extirpation 
of  sin,  the  tap-root  of  all  evil.  Shall  the  Church 
capture  the  world  or  the  world  capture  the 
Church?  There  can  be  no  truce  with  the 
powers  of  darkness.  To  hesitate  is  to  invite 
disaster  in  her  own  ranks,  and  dishonour 
from  her  enemies.  Paralysis  comes  from  in- 
fidelity. To  mark  time  never  measures  the 
spirit  of  the  soldier — it  is  the  advance,  the 
charge  upon  the  enemy. 

We  face  a  giant  task — the  rebirth,  the  re- 
construction, the  restoration  of  the  individual, 
of  society,  of  the  nation,  of  the  race.  Shall  it 
be  said  of  us,  *'  Like  as  the  children  of  Ephraim 
who  being  harassed  and  bearing  bows  turned 
themselves  back  in  the  day  of  battle  "  ?  Gid- 
eon with  his  three  hundred  was  equal  to  the 
hosts  of  the  enemy.  One  man  and  God 
could  chase  a  thousand  and  two  put  ten  thou- 
sand to  flight.  The  presence  of  Napoleon 
upon  any  battle-field  was  said  to  be  equal  to 
ten  thousand  men.  If  our  Captain  is  at  the 
front,  victory  is  assured.  It  is  not  so  much  a 
question  of  our  being  upon  the  field,  the  su- 


A  MISSIONARY  CHURCH  207 

preme  question  is  that  of  His  being  there. 
For  His  sake  no  sacrifice  is  too  costly,  for 
Him  no  odds  too  great. 

The  Church  at  home  has  too  long  gazed 
upon  a  sky-line  of  roseate  hue.  It  has  been 
too  much  attracted  by  the  enchantment  of 
distance  and  the  glamour  of  missionary  ro- 
mance. There  is  a  romance  of  missions,  and 
there  is  the  call  of  the  wild  and  the  untutored 
races.  These  do  weave  a  spell  about  the 
soul,  if  there  be  a  spark  of  imagination  left  to 
kindle  into  a  glow.  But  there  is  no  substan- 
tial basis  in  all  this  for  that  imperious  pur- 
pose which  must  lie  at  the  foundation  of  all 
sustained  effort. 

It  should  not  be  necessary,  now  and  then, 
to  open  a  new  mission  in  order  to  stimulate 
flagging  interest,  or  glowing  reports  of  suc- 
cess be  required  to  prompt  to  larger  gifts. 
Above  all  to  demand  heroic  sacrifice  of 
our  missionaries,  and  missionary  graves,  to 
touch  the  sentiment  and  quicken  the  con- 
science of  the  Church  is  pandering  to  a  mor- 
bid taste,  and  will  but  end  in  repeated  at- 
tempts to  galvanize  a  dead  body  into  life. 

The  Church  does  need  the  spirit  of  the 
heroic  in  the  missionary,  but  it  must  be  pre- 
ceded by  the  heroic  spirit  at  home.  It  does 
not   need  the  practice  of   self-denial   in  the 


208  A  MISSIONARY  CHURCH 

messenger,  but  that  messenger  must  be 
backed  by  greater  self-denial  upon  the  part 
of  those  who  send  him.  It  has  a  right  to  ex- 
pect a  prayer  life  of  faith  and  power  in  the 
missionary  body  on  the  field,  but  there  must 
be  more  prayer  and  greater  power  of  inter- 
cession at  the  home  base.  The  Church  on 
the  field  should  not  he  expected  to  rise  in  its 
spiritual  life  higher  than  that  of  the  Church  at 
home.  If  it  does  rise  higher,  it  should  lead 
to  severe  scrutiny  of  motive  and  of  purpose  in 
the  home  Church  lest  while  the  effort  is  being 
made  to  give  the  Gospel  to  the  heathen  there, 
we  lose  its  power  here  and  suffer  a  lapse  of 
faith. 

What  does  the  Church  supremely  need? 
The  Church  does  not  need  prestige,  she  has 
that ;  she  does  not  need  numbers,  her  rolls 
are  long  and  full ;  she  does  not  need  ma- 
chinery, she  is  over-organized  ;  she  does  not 
need  money,  she  has  more  wealth  than  con- 
secration. She  does  need  the  spirit  of  prayer 
which  is  the  key  to  power.  There  must  be 
leadership  in  prayer  which  will  bring  the 
power  to  surrender  her  sons  and  daughters, 
put  the  machinery  to  work,  consecrate  the 
wealth,  and  send  her  reenforced  upon  her  di- 
vine mission. 

The  Church  needs  a  vision  of  One  high 


A  MISSIONARY  CHURCH  209 

and  lifted  up,  and  yet  infinitely  near  ;  confes- 
sion of  the  sin  of  unbelief  and  of  disloyalty  to 
her  Lord  ;  purification  through  the  truth,  and 
enduement  of  power  through  the  Spirit.  The 
Church  needs  a  moral  earnestness  which 
leads  to  the  acceptance  of  a  world-task  de- 
manding all  her  powers  ;  a  rediscovery  of 
brotherhood  in  service  pushed  to  the  point  of 
sacrifice,  and  to  know  the  joy  of  it ;  a  cour- 
age which  fears  nothing  but  sin ;  and  an 
optimism  which  has  "  a  persistent  faith  in 
God's  to-morrow."  The  Church  needs  to 
know  the  mind  of  Christ ;  to  be  filled  with 
His  purpose  to  establish  the  Kingdom  of  God ; 
to  offer  daily  intercession  for  the  same  and  to 
put  in  practice  the  prayer  *'  that  they  all  may 
be  one." 

What  is  all  this  but  the  superhuman  task 
of  erecting  a  Kingdom  in  which  there  is  to  be 
'•  a  union  of  all  souls  that  are  in  union  with 
God,  a  world-order  in  which  the  will  of  God 
shall  be  reproduced  in  all  human  lives.  To 
establish  that  Kingdom  in  east  and  west,  and 
north  and  south,  in  trade  and  industry,  in 
philanthropy  and  education  and  government 
and  religion,  in  home  and  school  and  church, 
among  all  nations  and  all  races — all  that, 
whether  fully  anticipated  or  not,"  the  Church 
must   come   to   realize   is  "  involved    in  the 


2IO  A   MISSIONARY   CHURCH 

great  overmastering  vision  of  Jesus  of  Naz- 
areth." There  is  only  one  religion  which  can 
comprehend  such  a  Kingdom  and  inspire 
a  world  order,  which  has  adequate  breadth 
and  depth. 

**  It  appears  to  be  a  growing  conviction 
that  in  the  religion  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
there  are  certain  universal  and  permanent 
elements,  which  constitute  the  essence  of 
religion.  I  shall  not  describe  this  essence  as 
the  irreducible  minimum,  lest  I  be  supposed 
to  teach  that  its  content  is  small  and  meagre. 
On  the  contrary  its  content  is  majestic  and 
opulent.  The  fullness  of  the  Godhead  is  in 
it ;  the  depths  of  the  riches  of  divine  grace  are 
in  it ;  the  unspeakable  gift  of  God  is  in  it ;  the 
treasures  of  wisdom  and  knowledge  are  in  it ; 
the  depth  and  height  and  breadth  and  length 
of  the  love  of  God  are  in  it.  The  growing 
appreciation  of  the  Biblical  content,  the 
broadening  scope  of  Christian  experience  are 
disclosing  the  vast  proportions  of  these 
universal  and  permanent  elements  that  con- 
stitute the  essence  of  the  Christian  religion."  ^ 

The  world  is  to  be  won  by  love.  It  can- 
not be  subdued  by  any  other  power  ;  it  can- 
not be  won  in  any  other  way.     It  is  not  only 

1  Chas.  Cuthbert  Hall,  "  Universal  Elements  of  the  Chris' 
tian  Religion,"  pp.  126-127. 


A  MISSIONARY  CHURCH  211 

the  greatest  thing  in  the  world — it  is  the 
greatest  force  in  the  world.  We  may  not 
like  men  because  they  are  unlovely,  but  we 
must  love  men  because  they  are  lovable, 
just  as  we  must  believe  men  can  be  saved 
because  they  are  recoverable.  Men  are  to  be 
loved  because  of  their  pitiful  need.  They  are 
to  be  loved  because  of  our  common  brother- 
hood in  Christ.  They  are  to  be  loved  be- 
cause God  loves  them  as  having  the  stamp  of 
His  own  personality. 

Doctor  Cairns  has  asked  the  question — 
"  Why  did  Jesus  so  love  men  ?  "  He  answers, 
"  Because  they  were  the  likest  thing,  in  the 
world  around  Him,  to  Almighty  God. 
They  had  the  spark  of  the  divine  life  in  them. 
They  were  capable  of  being  loved  into  the 
image  of  God,  of  becoming  such  as  would 
manifest  God,  revealing  God  the  Father  of 
man.  It  is  the  most  reassuring  thing  about 
man  in  history  that  such  a  one  as  Jesus  loved 
men  as  Jesus  did." 

Through  the  ages  this  has  been  the  magnet 
which  has  drawn  and  held  the  soul  of  man. 
Its  silent  but  powerful  current  searched  and 
swept  the  heart-strings  of  a  rugged  fisherman, 
stout  limbed  and  rough  handed,  with  volcanic 
fires  burning  in  his  breast,  and  held  him  in  its 
golden  meshes  until  he  could  pen  in  burning 


212  A   MISSIONARY  CHURCH 

words  to  the  strangers  scattered  throughout 
Pontus  and  Asia  :  *'  Whom  having  not  seen 
ye  love  ;  in  whom,  though  now  ye  see  Him 
not,  yet  believing,  ye  rejoice  with  joy  un- 
speakable and  full  of  glory." 

This  has  been  the  heavenly  magnet,  the 
dynamic  of  the  Kingdom,  the  heart-throb 
which  has  never  ceased  to  beat  for  sinful 
man.  Its  yearnings  and  its  searchings  were 
with  a  tender  solicitude  that  would  not  let 
man  go,  and  prompted  the  oldest  and  most 
saintly  of  all  the  apostles  to  exclaim  :  **  He 
that  loveth  not  knoweth  not  God  ;  for  God  is 
love.  Herein  was  the  love  of  God  manifested 
in  us,  that  God  hath  sent  His  only  begotten 
Son  into  the  world  that  we  might  live  through 
Him.  Herein  is  love,  not  that  we  loved  God, 
but  that  He  loved  us,  and  sent  His  Son  to  be 
the  propitiation  for  our  sins."  How  beauti- 
ful, how  persistent  the  power  of  divine,  of 
deathless  love. 

Twelve  centuries  elapse  ;  the  long  night  of 
the  Dark  Ages  begins  to  be  spent.  The  light 
of  a  new  day  is  breaking  everywhere.  I  see 
another  man,  not  from  the  Isle  of  Patmos,  but 
from  Majorca  on  the  coast  of  Spain.  He  is  a 
courtier,  a  musician,  a  poet  and  a  prodigal. 
He  comes  to  himself.  Suddenly  he  sees  Jesus 
hanging  upon  the  cross  with  eyes  reproach- 


A  MISSIONARY   CHURCH  213 

fully  fixed  upon  him.  It  proves  to  be  the 
turning  point  of  his  life.  Shot  through  with 
conviction,  and  overwhelmed  by  the  tide  of 
divine  love  which  swept  over  his  soul,  he  sur- 
rendered for  life  as  a  missionary  to  the 
Mohammedans,  the  hardest  and  the  most 
perilous  task  of  that  or  any  age. 

Fifty  years  of  unremitting  service  go  by. 
In  his  Contemplations  we  read :  "  As  the 
needle  naturally  turns  to  the  north  when  it  is 
touched  by  the  magnet,  so  is  it  fitting,  O 
Lord,  that  Thy  servant  should  turn  to  love 
and  praise  and  serve  Thee  ;  seeing  that  out 
of  love  to  him  Thou  wast  willing  to  endure 
such  grievous  pangs  and  sufferings."  Then, 
as  if  lifting  his  pen  for  a  moment  of  prayer 
and  upward  look,  he  adds  these  words,  **  Men 
are  wont  to  die,  O  Lord,  from  old  age,  the 
failure  of  natural  warmth  and  excess  of  cold  ; 
but  thus,  if  it  be  Thy  will.  Thy  servant  would 
not  wish  to  die ;  he  would  prefer  to  die  in  the 
glow  of  love,  even  as  Thou  wast  willing  to  die 
for  him." 

Is  it  a  magnet  to  which  we  would  liken 
love  ?  That  is  too  cold.  Is  it  a  dynamic  ? 
That  is  too  material.  Is  it  the  heart-beat  of 
the  world?  That  is  almost  too  human.  It 
is  Christ.     It  is  God,  for  God  is  love. 

Doctor  Zwemer  well  says  in  his  Biography 


214  A  MISSIONARY   CHURCH 

of  Raymond  Lull,  ''The  inner  life  of  Lull 
finds  its  key  in  the  story  of  his  conversion. 
Incarnate  love  overcame  carnal  love,  and  all 
of  the  passion  and  the  poetry  of  Lull's  genius 
bowed  in  submission  to  the  Cross,  The  vi- 
sion of  his  youth  explains  the  motto  of  his  old 
age :  *  He  who  loves  not  lives  not ;  he  who 
lives  by  the  Life  cannot  die.'  " 

*•  The  image  of  the  suffering  Saviour,"  con- 
tinues Doctor  Zwemer,  "remained  for  fifty 
years  the  mainspring  of  his  being.  Love  for 
the  personal  Christ  filled  his  heart,  moulded 
his  mind,  inspired  his  pen,  and  made  his  soul 
long  for  the  crown  of  martyrdom.  Long 
years  afterwards,  when  he  sought  for  a  rea- 
sonable proof  of  that  greatest  mystery  of 
revelation  and  the  greatest  stumbling-block 
for  Moslems — the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity — he 
once  more  recalls  the  vision.  His  proof  for 
the  Trinity  was  the  love  of  God  in  Christ  as 
revealed  to  us  by  the  Holy  Spirit." 

Love  is  immortal,  imperishable.  It  is  found 
in  the  waste  places  of  the  earth  ready  to  be- 
come the  basis  of  a  new  hope  for  humanity. 
We  were  lost  in  the  heart  of  Africa.  For 
two  days  our  guide  was  without  his  bear- 
ings. The  first  day's  march  made  a  com- 
plete circle.  We  halted  in  the  middle  of  the 
afternoon  to  find  we  were  at  the  starting  point. 


A  MISSIONARY  CHURCH  215 

Our  sixty  caravan  men  were  almost  mutinous. 
They  had  had  nothing  to  eat.  The  night  was 
spent  in  utter  bewilderment,  our  men  sleep- 
ing upon  the  bare  ground.  Long  before 
day  the  march  was  resumed.  We  held  to 
a  dim  trail  until  a  late  hour,  when  once 
more  uncertainty  came  down  upon  us  like  a 
fog. 

A  hunter  appeared  who  told  us  there  was 
a  village  ahead,  but  it  belonged  to  a  can- 
nibal tribe  of  bad  reputation.  The  question 
was  hotly  debated  as  to  whether  we  should 
spend  the  night  in  the  forest,  or  go  forward. 
Our  hungry  men  decided  to  risk  cannibals 
rather  than  leopards,  so  we  pushed  on. 
Night  had  fallen,  when  a  gleam  of  light 
shot  along  the  path.  The  caravan  swung 
boldly  in  to  the  centre  of  the  village  where 
fires  were  burning  and  began  a  parley  for 
food. 

Utterly  exhausted  I  threw  myself  upon  a 
log.  We  had  marched  from  starlight  until 
the  stars  had  risen  again.  At  this  juncture 
a  young  man,  lithe  and  powerful,  pressed  his 
way  to  the  front,  bowed  low,  and  begged  the 
Ngangabuka  (physician)  to  come  at  once  and 
see  his  mother.  I  put  him  off,  saying  I  was 
too  tired  to  walk  and  would  come  later.  He 
went,  but  returned  insisting  that  I  go  to  see 


2l6  A  MISSIONARY   CHURCH 

his  mother.  Again  I  refused,  but  promised 
to  come  as  soon  as  a  cup  of  tea  had  been 
prepared.  Reluctantly  he  disappeared  in 
the  darkness.  The  third  time  he  returned. 
So  insistent  was  his  plea  that  I  said  to  Pro- 
fessor Gilbert,  my  companion,  **  I  cannot 
stand  it;  I  must  go  because  of  his  impor- 
tunity." 

He  led  me  a  few  paces  to  his  hut.  A  fire 
was  smouldering  at  the  door  upon  the  ground. 
Silhouetted  in  the  flicker  of  light  was  the 
outline  of  his  mother.  We  crawled  in  upon 
hands  and  knees  to  the  place  where  she 
crouched  moaning  upon  a  mat  of  reeds.  An 
examination  developed  the  fact  that  she  had 
an  abscess  of  the  middle  ear.  Her  sufferings 
must  have  been  terrible,  but  perforation  had 
taken  place.  It  was  not  the  pain  now  but  the 
discharge  that  terrified  them  both.  In  their 
childlike  simplicity  they  imagined  the  brain 
itself  was  oozing  out.  A  few  kind  words  re- 
assured them.  Some  medicine  was  given  and 
I  returned  to  my  fellow  traveller.  ''  Gilbert," 
said  I,  **  thanks  be  to  Almighty  God,  I  have 
found  an  unquenchable  spark  of  divine  love 
in  the  breast  of  a  cannibal.  There  is  love 
enough  in  that  man's  heart  for  his  mother, 
and  hope  enough  in  mine  upon  which  to 
build   one's   faith  in  the  possibility  of  a  re- 


A  MISSIONARY  CHURCH  21 7 

deemed  Africa  through  the  larger,  diviner 
love  of  Jesus  Christ." 

The  relation  of  the  foreign  missionary  to 
the  native  worker  and  to  the  native  Church 
is  one  which  involves  the  nicest  adjustments, 
and  calls  for  the  wisest  statesmanship.  In  no 
alignment  of  forces  on  the  foreign  field  is 
there  involved  so  much  that  is  vital  to  the 
propagation  of  an  aggressive  Christianity. 
An  element  of  over  control  on  the  one  hand, 
or  of  ultra  independence  upon  the  other,  is 
fatal  to  that  growth  and  progress  of  the 
Church  which  must  be  fostered,  if  nation- 
wide evangelization  becomes  an  accom- 
plished fact. 

There  is  a  statement  in  the  action  of  the 
Indian  National  Congress,  recently  held  in 
Madras,  which  while  it  refers  to  what  is  con- 
sidered the  ideal  relation  between  the  Indian 
and  the  Englishman,  both  subjects  of  the 
same  empire,  both  equally  loyal  to  the  same 
governing  head,  applies  closely  to  the  mis- 
sionary and  the  native  Church.  The  action 
referred  to  is  as  follows  :  "The  two  extremes 
— the  one  of  separation,  the  other  of  sub- 
ordination— are  both  equally  impossible  and 
must  be  put  out  of  our  mind.  The  ideal 
that  we  must  pursue,  and  which  the  Con- 
gress has  set  before  itself,  is  that  of  coordi- 


2l8  A  MISSIONARY  CHURCH 

nation  and  comradeship,  of  a  joint  partner- 
ship on  equal  terms." 

This  goes  to  the  heart  of  the  matter.  The 
ideal  relationship  in  the  kingdom  of  grace  is 
one  in  which  all  men  are  equals — there  are 
no  terms  of  privilege  save  as  grace  is  a  God- 
given  privilege  to  all  men. 

The  student  life  of  the  world  must  be  won 
for  Christ.  As  a  piece  of  Christian  strategy 
it  is  central  and  vital.  The  greatest  con- 
structive evangelistic  and  missionary  move- 
ments of  modern  times  have,  through  the 
Spirit  of  God,  been  born  of  young  and  en- 
thusiastic life,  which  has  optimistic  faith  and 
dares  the  impossible.  Zinzendorf  and  The 
Order  of  the  Mustard  Seed  ;  John  Wesley 
and  The  Oxford  Club  ;  Samuel  Mills  and  the 
Haystack  Conference  at  Williams  College; 
George  Williams  and  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association ;  Mount  Hermon  and 
the  Northfield  Student  Conferences  with  the 
Volunteer  Movement  for  Foreign  Missions, 
and  the  World's  Student  Christian  Federa- 
tion are  tremendously  significant  in  this  con- 
nection. 

Herein  lies  one  of  the  most  potent  features 
of  the  Evangelistic  Movement  recently  in- 
augurated in  Methodism.  It  involves  not 
only  the  conversion  of  the  individual,  but  re- 


A  MISSIONARY  CHURCH  219 

lates  itself  to  those  decisions  for  life  service 
which  will  recruit  the  organized  body  of  lay 
and  ministerial  workers,  at  home  and  abroad. 
Young  life  is  peculiarly  open  to  conviction 
when  the  needs  of  the  world  and  the  de- 
mands of  the  Kingdom  are  intelligently  and 
adequately  presented.  The  claims  of  Christ 
and  of  humanity  upon  the  life  in  the  need 
of  nurses,  deaconesses,  colporteurs,  teachers, 
stewards,  social  service  workers  and  mission- 
aries should  be  vigorously  and  earnestly 
presented. 

The  response  will  always  be  equal  to  the 
investment  of  prayer  and  faith  in  this  the 
most  promising  and  fruitful  field  of  the 
Church.  If  we  would  emphasize  devotional 
Bible  study,  recruit  the  ranks  of  the  ministry, 
direct  the  wealth  of  the  Church  into  channels 
of  benevolence,  secure  men  and  women  for 
constructive  Christian  work,  and  qualify  for 
leadership  in  the  same,  the  place  of  decision 
must  be  in  the  Sunday-school  and  in  the  col- 
lege. It  will  be  inadequate,  however,  unless 
special  effort  be  put  forth,  and  time  given  to 
it,  and  the  leadership  be  of  those  who  have 
both  sympathy  and  experience  in  dealing 
with  young  life  and  who  constitute  the  basis 
of  appeal  in  their  own  surrendered  lives.  No 
eye  is  so  clear  to  detect  the  weakness  and 


220  A  MISSIONARY   CHURCH 

inconsistency  of  a  man's  life  as  that  of  the 
student.  No  one  respects  straightforward 
honesty  and  manliness  as  he. 

Methods  are  a  matter  of  detail,  but  some- 
times vital.  Small  prayer  groups  of  students 
focusing  intercession  upon  their  own  body; 
utilization  of  speakers  selected  from  the  regu- 
lar pastorate,  or  young  men  from  the  mission 
field,  because  of  their  experience  in  dealing 
with  the  problems  of  young  life,  those  who 
can  present  the  claims  of  Christ  and  missions 
in  such  way  as  to  lead  men  to  open  their 
hearts  and  bring  them  face  to  face  with  God. 
Mr.  Moody  discovered  Henry  Drummond  at 
Edinburgh  University  as  a  past  master  in 
such  work.  It  is  at  such  moments  decisions 
are  made  which  change  the  course  of  a  life 
and  may  influence  the  destiny  of  a  nation. 

God  gives  man  a  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ, 
who  can  really  save.  He  reveals  to  man  a 
religion,  Christianity,  which  gives  freedom 
and  yet  holds  man  to  God.  By  faith  in  the 
one,  man  has  the  gift  of  eternal  life  ;  by  faith 
in  the  other,  he  has  the  divine  charter  of  hu- 
man liberty.  But  God  does  not  give  man 
moral  character.  He  cannot.  I  say  it  rev- 
erently. That  must  grow  by  self-denial,  by 
sacrificial  service,  and  by  vital  touch  with 
Christ  for  vital  force. 


A   MISSIONARY   CHURCH  221 

It  is  the  missionary's  task  to  wisely  direct 
that  growth.  No  master  builder  of  men  re- 
quires deeper  wisdom  and  diviner  grace ; 
none  needs  more  human  skill  and  Christly 
sympathy.  Responsibility  must  be  placed 
upon  the  native  convert,  but  not  too  heavy  ; 
safeguards  must  be  raised  about  him,  but 
not  too  restrictive.  It  is  rather  the  spontane- 
ous buoyancy  of  hope  that  springs  from  un- 
shakable faith  in  God  the  Father  that  is  to 
be  desired,  and  the  masterful  control  which 
grows  out  of  unquenchable  love  for  his  Lord 
that  is  to  be  sought  for. 

Christ  did  not  lay  unnecessary  burdens 
upon  men.  He  chose  rather  to  bear  them 
Himself  and  thus  fulfill  the  law.  He  looked 
deeper  than  actions  and  searched  for  motive. 
With  Him  it  was  not  so  much  what  man  was, 
but  what  man  desired  to  be.  It  was  this  that 
made  Him  patient  with  doubting  Thomas, 
and  forbearing  with  impulsive  Peter. 

He  placed  no  arbitrary  rules  and  restric- 
tions upon  men.  He  taught  that  the  letter 
killeth,  and  that  it  is  the  spirit  that  maketh 
alive.  We  have  to  be  very  patient  with  a 
people  who  have  for  centuries  been  living  in 
an  order  of  society  which  tolerated  customs 
that  are  more  than  objectionable,  actually 
sinful.     Jesus  did  not  spare  sin,  but  He  was 


222  A  MISSIONARY   CHURCH 

tender  to  the  sinner  for  He  loved  men  and 
reverenced  their  personaUty.  He  came  not 
to  them  who  were  whole,  but  to  those  who 
needed  a  physician. 

A  missionary  church  far  out  upon  the  rim 
of  civilization — how  shall  I  describe  it?  It 
was  the  day  after  Christmas  when  the  Sam- 
uel Lapsley  steamed  up  the  Lulua  River. 
She  rounded  the  bend,  cleared  the  forest  and 
brought  us  in  sight  of  a  great  throng  gath- 
ered on  the  right  bank.  The  lion-hearted 
Morrison,  tender  and  true,  was  returning 
with  us  to  his  devoted  friends.  After  an  ab- 
sence of  two  years  I  had  come  back  with 
a  mission  party  of  eight.  Standing  there 
before  us  were  missionaries  and  native 
helpers ;  men,  women  and  children  salut- 
ing us  with  handkerchiefs,  palm  branches 
or  extended  hands.  Among  them,  Mudimbe 
and  Dufanda,  the  faithful  companions  of  our 
first  journey,  and  the  stalwart  four  with 
Wembo  Niama's  spear,  who  had  just  walked 
twice  five  hundred  miles  to  tell  the  great 
chief  of  the  Batetela  that  Kabengale  would 
be  true  to  his  word,  and  return  to  his  village 
with  missionaries  by  the  twenty-fourth  moon. 

For  a  single  moment  a  solemn  stillness 
pervaded  the  atmosphere — the  awe-inspiring 
hush  as  of  a  prayer — then  from  a  thousand 


A  MISSIONARY  CHURCH  223 

throats  there  burst  forth,  in  the  Baluba 
tongue,  the  words  of  that  triumphal  song, 
**  Onward,  Christian  Soldiers  I  '*  and  simul- 
taneously from  the  Lapsley  an  answering 
refrain  from  our  sixty  lusty  wood- choppers 
and  firemen,  who  sang  out  the  words,  **  We'll 
Trust  and  Obey."  No  language  can  describe 
the  thrill  and  power  of  it  all.  Tears  could 
not  be  repressed.  There  was  the  overmaster- 
ing sense  of  the  Presence  of  Almighty  God  in 
Central  Africa.  Greetings  were  exchanged 
with  our  Presbyterian  fellow-workers  of  fair 
complexion  and  of  dusky  hue,  but  who  alike 
as  faithful  intercessors  had  prayed  ten  years 
for  the  coming  of  the  Methodists.  Then  they 
climbed  the  hill,  filled  the  great  church  and 
heard  the  recital  of  the  goodness  of  the  Great 
Father  during  all  the  intervening  months  of 
absence  and  of  travel.  As  that  mighty  com- 
pany bowed  their  heads  in  reverent  thanks- 
giving, we  realized  that  Ethiopia  had  not 
stretched  out  her  hands  in  vain  and  that  we 
would  yet  see  Africa  redeemed. 

Was  it  a  prayer  of  empty  words  that  day  ? 
Was  it  a  vision  or  a  mere  dream  ?  Within 
ten  days  of  that  wonderful  hour,  that  Presby- 
terian church  made  up  of  converts  from  raw 
heathenism,  some  of  them  ex-slaves  and  from 
cannibal  tribes,  gave  us  two  of  its  leading 


224  A   MISSIONARY   CHURCH 

evangelists  and  their  wives  and  fifteen  Chris- 
tian workmen  as  the  nucleus  of  a  Methodist 
church  in  the  remote  interior.  The  King- 
dom is  coming  and  Christ  is  in  the  midst 
when  such  things  are  possible. 

There  can  be  no  true  missionary  Church 
which  has  not  its  centre  and  source  of  inspi- 
ration and  power  in  Christ  as  the  head  of  the 
Church.  Shift  that  centre  to  an  ecclesiastical 
oligarchy ;  shift  it  to  an  hierarchy,  or  any 
human  source  of  authority  and  of  power  ;  and 
the  Church  is  doomed.  To  Hve,  and  grow, 
and  rejoice  in  the  fulfillment  of  her  God-given 
mission,  Jesus  Christ  must  have  the  supreme 
place.  It  must  be  a  Church  that  is  surren- 
dered to  Christ,  catholic  in  her  sympathy,  burn- 
ing with  zeal  in  evangelistic  effort,  consciously 
called  into  the  fellowship  of  her  Lord,  daily 
enriched  by  communion  with  Him,  and  abid- 
ing in  the  unity  of  the  Spirit,  and  in  the  bonds 
of  peace. 

Members  of  such  a  Church  cannot  content 
themselves  with  simply  being  exponents  of  a 
principle,  or  advocates  of  a  cause.  They 
must  be  exemplars  of  a  life.  They  must  be 
the  pioneers  of  spiritual  progress,  the  educa- 
tors of  the  social  conscience,  and  the  creators 
of  a  corporate  sense  of  responsibility  to  God 
for  the  advancement  of  His  Kingdom.     Fail- 


A  MISSIONARY  CHURCH  225 

ing  this,  she  loses  her  spiritual  power,  forfeits 
her  place  of  leadership  and  ceases  to  fulfill 
her  mission  in  the  world. 

*'  No  Church  can  live  on  its  past ;  it  must 
live  by  faith  and  duty  in  the  present;  no 
Church  has  any  claim  to  be  whose  only  right 
is  historical.  The  only  claim  is  present  truth 
and  life,  love  and  service,  making  the  Church 
a  temple  of  the  living  God,  a  body  for  the 
Spirit  of  Christ.  Churches,  then,  everywhere 
live  under  the  judicial  and  by  the  evangelical 
law.  This  makes  it  necessary  that  no  Church 
or  body  of  Churches  lose  for  one  moment 
their  evangelical  zeal.  The  Churches  are 
bound  to  be  vehicles  of  the  grace  of  God, 
living  centres  of  evangelical  energy  and 
force,  changing  ever  the  secret  life  that  is  in 
them  into  the  lives  that  are  to  be,  penetrating 
the  present,  preparing  the  future,  being  in  all 
their  parts  as  bodies  of  the  living  God." 

It  is  not  sufficient  that  the  pastor  shall 
master  the  subject  of  missions.  He  must  be 
mastered  by  the  truth,  that  the  object  for 
which  the  Church  exists  is  the  establishment 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  all  the  world. 
This  goes  beyond  the  mere  advocacy  of  mis- 
sions, it  goes  to  the  heart  of  the  matter  and 
gives  "  the  subject  of  missions  its  true  place 
in  his  ministry."     To  the  pastor  belongs  in  a 


226  A  MISSIONARY   CHURCH 

preeminent  degree  the  privilege  and  the  re- 
sponsibility of  solving  the  foreign  mission 
problem. 

The  missionary  passion  is  as  necessary  to 
the  pastor  at  home  as  it  is  to  the  pastor 
abroad.  There  is  no  neutral  ground.  Both 
are  in  the  war.  The  minister,  like  his  church, 
must  be  either  cold  or  hot.  If  cold  he  is  dis- 
loyal to  his  Master.  If  neither  cold  nor  hot, 
he  is  unworthy  of  the  Cause  and  is  in  danger 
of  being  spewed  out.  The  Christian  who  does 
not  go  as  a  foreign  missionary  must  give  a  sat- 
isfactory reason  why  he  stays  at  home.  The 
burden  of  explanation  rests  upon  him.  The 
man  who  enters  the  pastorate  at  home  must 
seek  to  know  the  mind  of  Christ.  He  must 
have  the  largest  possible  grasp  of  the  world's 
evangel ;  a  keen  sense  of  the  world's  need  ; 
a  deepened  sense  of  compassion  ;  courage  to 
meet  opposition  ;  intelligence  in  presenting 
the  claims  of  missions  so  as  to  overcome  ig- 
norance and  prejudice  ;  masterfulness  in  grap- 
pling with  problems  of  policy  and  adminis- 
tration ;  ability  to  "  raise  the  supplies  at  home 
that  should  maintain  the  work  of  God  abroad." 
The  majority  of  great  missionary  secretaries 
have  been  missionary  pastors,  some  of  them 
on  the  foreign  field  itself. 

The  world    is   to    be  won    by   presenting 


A   MISSIONARY   CHURCH  227 

Christ  as  a  Redeemer  who  is  able  to  save  hu- 
manity at  its  lowest,  and  who  is  not  only  able 
to  save,  but  is  to-day  restoring  men — sinful, 
degenerate  men — to  their  rightful  relationship 
as  sons  of  God,  and  brothers  to  all  other  men. 
We  can  have,  therefore,  no  patience  with  a 
philosophy  which  announces  as  the  first  prin- 
ciple of  humanity  that  **  the  weak  and  the 
botched  must  perish."  If  that  be  human- 
ity, it  is  a  remnant  of  a  barbaric  age  and 
should  be  outlawed  as  unworthy  a  place  in 
the  Kingdom  of  God.  It  is  a  part  of  the  sen- 
timent from  the  same  source  that  defines  what 
is  good  as  *'  all  that  increases  the  feeling  of 
power,  the  will  to  power,  power  itself  in  man." 

Our  Gospel  is  an  evangel  of  comfort  to  the 
broken-hearted,  of  strength  to  the  powerless, 
and  therefore  of  hope  to  **  the  botched  and 
hopeless."  It  was  to  the  philosophizing 
Greeks  that  Paul  wrote,  **  If  our  Gospel  be 
hid,  it  is  hid  to  them  that  are  lost :  in  whom 
the  god  of  this  world  hath  blinded  the  minds 
of  them  which  believe  not,  lest  the  light  of 
the  glorious  Gospel  of  Christ,  who  is  the 
image  of  God,  should  shine  unto  them." 

It  is  not  the  good  in  man,  not  the  feeling 
of  power,  nor  is  it  the  power  itself  in  man  that 
is  to  save  humanity.  "  We  have  this  treas' 
ure  in  earthen  vessels,"  continues  the  Apostle, 


228  A   MISSIONARY   CHURCH 

**  that  the  excellency  of  the  power  may  be  oi 
God  and  not  of  us."  It  is  the  commonplace 
that  Christianity  comes  to  uplift  and  glorify. 
Under  its  touch  a  clod  becomes  vibrant  with 
power,  and  every  bush  aflame  with  the  pres- 
ence of  God.  The  clod  may  nourish  a  seed 
that  can  feed  a  world,  and  the  bush  burn  with 
an  energy  that  speaks  of  pentecost  and 
tongues  of  fire. 

"  No  one  Church  is  equal  to  the  task  of 
evangelizing  the  world ;  and  if  the  various 
Churches  working  in  foreign  fields  do  not 
cooperate  with  each  other,  but  fall  to  fighting 
among  themselves  in  the  presence  of  the 
heathen,  all  of  them  together  will  do  some- 
thing worse  than  fail.  On  the  mission  field 
only  bodies  pervaded  by  a  catholic  spirit  are 
of  any  avail.  But  the  doctrinal  basis  of  evan- 
gelical Christianity  is  the  only  platform  wide 
enough  for  all  parties  to  stand  harmoniously 
upon.  Strifes  about  forms  of  ordinances, 
doctrines  of  historic  episcopates  and  apostolic 
successions,  and  dogmas  concerning  forms  of 
governments  and  ecclesiastical  jurisdictions, 
appear  ridiculous  to  intelligent  pagans,  and 
it  is  worthy  of  remark  that  such  worthless 
things  disappear  from  the  home  land,  even, 
whenever  a  great  revival  sweeps  over  the 
country.     These  minor  matters  cannot  be  of 


A   MISSIONARY   CHURCH  229 

the  essence  of  Christianity,  and  no  amount  of 
verbal  jugglery  or  astute  argumentation  can 
make  them  appear  as  of  prime  importance  to 
any  healthy  mind  which  is  free  from  partisan 
bias,  or  to  any  devout  soul  filled  with  the  joy 
of  the  Spirit."  ^ 

This  is  a  wise  and  timely  utterance.  It 
recognizes  the  bigness  of  the  task,  the  neces- 
sity for  cooperation,  and  the  certainty  of  fail- 
ure without  both  the  spirit  of  catholicity  and 
the  doctrinal  basis  of  evangelical  Christianity 
which  makes  catholicity  secure.  May  strife 
about  forms  disappear,  the  things  that  are 
worth  while  emerge,  and  the  revival  come, 
at  home  and  abroad,  through  the  ministry 
and  unifying  power  of  the  Spirit  which  shall 
cover  the  earth  with  the  knowledge  of  the 
glory  of  the  Lord  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea. 

''  It  is  not  possible,"  says  Mr.  J.  H.  Old- 
ham, editor  of  the  International  Review  of 
Missio7ts,  '*  to  go  back  to  the  unity  which  was 
broken  up  at  the  Reformation,  but  only  to  go 
forward  towards  a  larger  and  higher  unity, 
which  recognizes  and  is  based  upon  the  free- 
dom of  the  Christian  man.  To  seek  co- 
operation along  these  lines,  however,  makes 
large  demands  upon  character.  Behind  all 
the  consideration  and  discussion  of  the  ques- 

1  Bishop  Candler,  "  Great  Revivals,"  p.  304. 


230  A   MISSIONARY   CHURCH 

tion  of  cooperation,  ennobling  it  and  filling 
even  petty  details  with  large  and  deep  mean- 
ing, lies  the  question — a  question  of  real  and 
great  historical  significance — whether  there 
is  among  the  leaders  of  the  missionary  move- 
ment the  loftiness  of  Christian  character,  the 
statesmanship,  the  largeness  of  vision,  the 
breadth  of  sympathy,  and  the  faith  in  God  to 
enable  them  to  achieve,  for  the  sake  of  the 
evangelization  of  the  world,  in  a  measure  that 
has  never  been  achieved  before,  a  living,  free, 
rich,  effective  unity,  in  which  the  gifts  that 
God  has  bestowed  upon  each  will  find  their 
highest  expression,  and  the  resources  with 
which  He  has  entrusted  His  Church  will  be 
used  to  the  uttermost  for  the  speedy  advance- 
ment of  the  Kingdom  of  God."  ^ 

The  extension  of  the  Kingdom — that  is 
what  we  stand  for.  It  is  what  we  are  saved 
for.  To  tell  the  world  of  the  Father's  love — 
was  not  that  Christ's  mission  ?  To  tell  the 
story  of  the  Saviour's  love — is  not  that  our 
mission?  How  true  have  we  been  to  the 
command  to  go?  That  is  the  test  of  dis- 
cipleship.  How  loyal  have  we  been  to  the 
love  which  impels  to  go  and  tell  ?  That  is 
the  test  of  Christianity. 

1  Conference  of  Missionary  Societies  in  Great  Britain,  June 
1913- 


A   MISSIONARY   CHURCH  23 1 

In  the  province  of  Shansi,  Mrs.  Han,  an 
old  Chinese  woman,  was  soundly  converted. 
*'  Her  love  and  faith  and  the  consistency  of 
her  Christian  life  were  undoubted.  And  yet 
she  never  asked  to  be  received  into  the 
Church,  and  seemed  distressed  when  the 
subject  of  baptism  was  mentioned.  This 
puzzled  the  missionary  ladies,  who  could  not 
think  of  any  reason  why  Mrs.  Han  should 
hold  back.  At  length  in  a  quiet  talk  one 
day  the  old  lady  unburdened  her  heart. 

''  *  Alas,'  she  said  wistfully,  *  if  only  1 
could  be  a  true  follower  of  Jesus  and  be 
baptized.' 

"  '  And  why  not  ?  '  questioned  the  mission- 
ary, much  interested.  *  Is  there  anything  to 
hold  you  back  ? ' 

*'  *  Me  ?  Why,  of  course  there  is,'  ex- 
claimed the  visitor  sadly.  *  How  could  I  be 
His  true  disciple  ?  I  could  never  accomplish 
the  work.' 

"  '  What  work  ?  '  said  her  friend  kindly. 
*  Did  not  Jesus  do  it  all  ? ' 

** '  Oh,  yes  !  and  I  do  love  Him,  and  am 
trusting  Him  alone  for  salvation.  But  I  know 
that  the  Lord  Jesus  said  that  His  disciples 
were  to  go  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the 
Gospel  to  every  creature.  Alas,  I  am  not 
able  to  do  that. 


232  A  MISSIONARY  CHURCH 

**  *  I  do  love  to  tell  of  Him,'  she  went  on,  as 
her  missionary  friend  seemed  unable  for  the 
moment  to  reply.  '  I  have  told  my  son  and 
his  wife,  and  all  our  neighbours,  and  in  the 
summer  time  I  can  go  to  several  villages  near 
at  hand.  Oh,  I  am  not  afraid  to  tell  of 
Jesus  !     It  is  not  that. 

"  '  But  I  am  old  and  very  feeble.  I  cannot 
read.  My  eyes  are  growing  dim.  And  I 
can  only  walk  a  little  way.  You  see  it  is  im- 
possible for  me  to  go  to  foreign  countries  and 
preach  the  Gospel.  If  you  had  come  when  I 
was  young — but  now  it  is  too  late.  I  cannot 
be  His  disciple.'  "  ' 

Who  among  us  does  not  come  under  con- 
viction from  that  simple  story  ?  Accomplish 
the  work  !  Have  we  done  it  ?  Go  into  all 
the  world  !  And  we  have  not  gone !  To 
every  creature  !  And  millions  perish  without 
the  Gospel.  Mrs.  Han  said,  **  I  cannot  be 
His  disciple."  We  accept  the  discipleship 
and  disobey  the  command. 

The  sense  of  mission.  How  overmaster- 
ing it  should  be  in  the  soul.  The  Church  can 
no  more  live  without  it  than  the  individual. 
As  for  the  Church  she  has  numbers  enough, 
resources  enough,  organization  enough,  to 
complete  the  work  to  which  she  is  commis- 

1  Mrs.  Howard  Taylor,  "  Pastor  Hsi,"  p.  93. 


A  MISSIONARY  CHURCH  233 

sioned,  and  to  do  it  in  this  generation. 
What  then  is  lacking  ?  The  sense  of  God 
and  of  mission  ;  the  sense  of  responsibility  for 
a  world  yet  unevangelized  ;  the  prayer  spirit 
and  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  If  she 
falters,  she  loses  her  opportunity  and  her 
crown.  If  she  fails  she  dies.  There  is  no 
failure  if  the  Church  is  true  to  her  Lord,  and 
ready  to  do  His  will. 

Men  who  can  lead  and  have  capacity  for 
leadership  are  always  needed.  But  it  is  the 
common  man,  after  all,  whom  God  seeks 
most,  finds  oftenest,  and  uses  in  His  King- 
dom. It  is  not  the  wise  and  mighty,  but  he 
that  is  humble  and  lowly  whom  He  delights 
to  honour.  The  humble  earthen  vessel, 
though  seamed  and  scarred,  takes  on  a  new 
lustre  under  the  divine  touch,  is  filled  with  a 
new  spirit  and  is  transformed  into  a  vessel  of 
honour.  What  is  all  this  but  a  miracle? 
But  we  need  not  go  back  to  the  apostolic  age 
for  the  miraculous.  It  is  all  about  us.  The 
mission  fields,  at  home  and  abroad,  abound 
in  illustrations  of  God's  power  in  the  trans- 
formation of  life  and  character. 

Jerry  McAuley,  converted  thief,  gambler, 
and  drunkard,  founded  the  celebrated  Water 
Street  Mission  of  New  York  City,  which  be- 
came a  Door  of  Hope  to  thousands  of  lost 


234  A  MISSIONARY   CHURCH 

men  and  women.  It  was  the  name  of  Jesus 
falling  upon  his  ear  while  stretched  upon  the 
floor  recovering  from  a  drunken  debauch  that 
touched  the  spring  and  drew  the  rusty  bolt  of 
a  hardened  heart.  "  Whose  name  was 
that  ?  "  he  asked.  "  I  loved  that  name  once, 
but  I  have  lost  it."  It  was  a  mere  gleam  of 
light.  The  bolt  snapped  back  and  darkness 
resumed  its  sway.  Months  elapsed.  He  is 
in  prison  and  reads  that  Jesus  died  for  sinners. 
Upon  his  knees  he  pleads  far  into  the  night, 
light  comes  again,  and  he  shouts,  "I  have 
found  Jesus  !  I  have  found  Jesus ! "  At- 
tracted by  the  unusual  sound  the  keeper 
threw  the  rays  of  his  dark  lantern  upon  him 
and  demanded,  "  What  is  the  matter  with 
you  ?  "  **  I  have  found  Jesus ! "  replied 
Jerry.  **  Fll  put  you  in  the  cooler  in  the 
morning,"  said  the  keeper,  and  put  down  his 
number.  But  he  forgot  to  carry  out  his 
threat. 

Next  morning  to  the  criminal  on  his  right, 
and  to  the  criminal  on  his  left,  as  they  sat  at 
breakfast,  Jerry  imparted  his  burning  mes- 
sage. It  was  his  only  chance.  **  I  have  found 
Him.  I  have  found  Him."  To  his  fellow 
prisoner  in  front  of  him,  and  to  his  fellow 
prisoner  behind  him,  as  they  marched  with 
locked   step   in    column  from  the  workshop 


A  MISSIONARY  CHURCH  235 

that  day,  he  repeated  the  same  glorious  mes- 
sage. It  was  his  only  other  chance,  and  he 
improved  it.  What  wonder  that  a  revival 
fire  kindled  under  the  dynamic  of  a  new- 
found love — a  fire  that  burned  and  leaped 
from  man  to  man  and  from  cell  to  cell,  until 
scores  of  hardened  criminals  were  saved. 

Let  us  turn  to  the  foreign  field.  A  con- 
verted Japanese  pilot  presented  himself  at 
our  mission  home  in  Kobe  years  ago,  homely 
and  uneducated,  but  full  of  zeal  and  of  un- 
tiring energy.  He  had  found  Christ  out  on 
the  Pacific  Coast  five  years  before,  worked  as 
a  cook  while  studying  the  Bible,  but  could  re- 
main no  longer.  It  was  the  call  of  an  un- 
converted mother — a  devout  Buddhist — that 
brought  him  back.  He  led  her  to  Christ,  led 
his  family,  led  hundreds  of  his  countrymen, 
and  was  wonderfully  used  in  having  a  large 
share  in  laying  the  foundations  of  a  great 
evangelical  and  educational  work  along  the 
shores  of  the  Inland  Sea. 

Years  later,  I  was  on  a  visit  to  Korea.  A 
knock  came  upon  the  door  one  day.  **  Who 
is  it  ?  "  is  the  question  ;  and  the  reply,  "  Only 
old  Mr.  Kim  the  tiger  hunter."  There  he  was 
when  I  went  to  greet  him,  this  grizzled  old  man, 
with  his  weather-beaten  face,  and  sunburned 
neck  and  shoulders  furrowed  by  the  claws  of 


236  A  MISSIONARY   CHURCH 

more  than  one  tiger  with  which  he  had  had 
a  personal  encounter  in  the  mountain  fast- 
nesses of  the  Hermit  Kingdom.  "  Plow  many 
tigers  have  you  killed,  Brother  Kim  ?  '*  "  Only 
eleven,"  he  modestly  replies,  though  some  of 
these  had  been  hunted  and  dispatched  with 
spear  and  knife,  as  incredible  as  it  seemed. 
It  was  for  this  heroic  service  the  Emperor 
had  decorated  him.  **  What  have  you  in 
that  bag.  Brother  Kim  ?  "  "  Ammunition,"  is 
the  laconic  reply,  with  a  smile.  It  was  his 
New  Testament  and  hymn-book.  **  Do  you 
no  longer  hunt  tigers  ?  "  "  No,  Moksa,  I  am 
hunting  for  men."  And  then  followed  the 
beautiful  story  of  how  Jesus  had  found  and 
tamed  him — for  he  had  feared  neither  man 
nor  beast,  and  now  he  was  spending  his  days 
going  from  hamlet  to  hamlet  hunting  for  men 
to  whom  he  could  tell  the  love  of  the  Saviour 
he  had  found. 

These  are  diamonds  in  the  rough.  Earthen 
vessels  !  Common  people !  Yes,  but  it  was 
the  common  people  who  heard  Jesus  gladly. 
Unpromising  material  ?  Perhaps  so.  But  it 
is  out  of  this  very  material  saints  and  martyrs 
are  being  made,  and  the  good  work  will  go 
on  until  the  Great  Architect  has  fashioned  a 
temple  in  which  Jesus  Christ  is  the  chief 
corner-stone,  and    every    true   believer  shall 


A  MISSIONARY  CHURCH  237 

have  a  place  somewhere  in  pavement,  or 
wall,  or  dome.  The  crooked  lines  of  human 
nature — and  there  are  many — are  they  not 
'*  the  master  strokes  of  God  "  ?  How  often 
has  our  Father  guided  us  when  we  knew  it 
not,  and  how  marvellously  does  He  work  out 
the  divine  pattern  in  the  mosaic  of  imperfect 
human  lives. 

"  When  a  visitor  to  Rome  ascends  into  the 
dome  of  St.  Peter's,"  writes  Doctor  Watkin- 
son,  **  he  is  surprised  by  the  general  coarse- 
ness of  the  mosaic  with  which  it  is  covered — 
the  material  is  rough,  the  inlaying  without 
taste,  the  colouring  devoid  of  delicacy  or  de- 
sign. Yet,  surveyed  perhaps  three  hundred 
feet  below,  it  is  grand  enough  ;  the  apparently 
crude  and  slovenly  artistry  becomes  a  vision 
of  fair  shapes  and  colours.  The  ornamenta- 
tion of  the  dome  was  designed  with  a  view  to 
its  being  seen  from  the  floor,  and  its  imper- 
fection is  its  perfection  ;  for  had  the  work 
been  smooth  and  delicate,  it  would  have 
proved  an  utter  failure,  whereas  it  is  the 
crowning  glory  of  the  shrine.  The  concep- 
tion of  the  whole  thing  evinces  on  the  part  of 
the  artist  the  fullest  knowledge,  the  truest 
genius,  the  completest  mastery  of  his  voca- 
tion. The  apparent  imperfection  is  part  of  a 
larger  perfection." 


238  A   MISSIONARY   CHURCH 

Christless  is  the  one  word  which  best  de- 
scribes the  condition  of  the  non-Christian 
world.  Under  the  spell  of  heathenism  there 
is  stagnation,  darkness  and  pessimism.  Souls 
without  Christ  are  morally  and  spiritually  be- 
numbed, atrophied,  dead.  It  is  the  insidious 
advance  of  sin  through  every  member  of  the 
body,  until  spiritual  death  supervenes.  There 
is  no  remedy  save  through  the  impartation  of 
life  by  those  who  have  life. 

Is  there  not  a  profound  suggestion  in  the 
raising  of  the  son  of  the  Shunammite  woman 
from  the  dead  at  the  hands  of  Elisha,  the 
prophet?  She  journeyed  in  haste,  and  found 
the  man  of  God  at  Mount  Carmel.  The  sad 
story  of  the  death  of  her  boy  was  told  by  the 
mother.  The  prophet  commanded  his  servant 
Gehazi  in  the  words,  "  Gird  up  thy  loins,  and 
take  my  staff  in  thy  hand,  and  go  thy  way : 
if  thou  meet  any  man,  salute  him  not ;  and  if 
any  salute  thee,  answer  him  not  again  :  and 
lay  my  staff  upon  the  face  of  the  child."  And 
Gehazi  passed  on  before  them,  and  laid  the 
stafi  upon  the  face  of  the  child  ;  but  there 
was  neither  voice,  nor  hearing.  He  returned 
therefore,  met  the  prophet  in  the  way,  and 
said,  *'  The  child  is  not  awaked." 

What  could  the  wooden  staff  do  ?  What 
could  the  faithless  servant  accomplish  ?   There 


A  MISSIONARY  CHURCH  239 

was  no  more  life  in  the  one  than  in  the  other. 
It  remained  for  the  prophet  himself  to  enter 
in  and  shut  the  door,  to  pray  unto  the  Lord, 
and  then  to  stretch  himself  upon  the  lifeless 
form,  until  he  that  had  no  life  in  himself  re- 
ceived life.  It  is  a  remarkable  illustration  of 
our  dealings  with  a  dead  heathenism.  Neither 
man-made  machinery  nor  spiritless  messenger 
can  convey  life  to  a  lifeless  body.  It  is  only 
the  Church  of  God,  instinct  with  the  pres- 
ence and  spirit  of  her  Lord,  who  can  stretch 
herself  by  the  side  of  heathenism.  Her 
warmth,  her  power,  her  very  spirit  of  life 
from  God  can  be  so  imparted  that  even  the 
dead  may  be  quickened  and  raised  up.  But 
it  must  be  a  living  Church  and  not  a  faith- 
less one.  And  at  last,  it  is  not  by  might  nor 
by  power,  but  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Hving  God. 

We  are  entering  upon  a  new  era  of  mis- 
sions. It  is  one  of  final  survey  and  occupa- 
tion. The  world  field  is  open  and  ready. 
Heathenism  has  been  undermined.  The  pre- 
paratory stage  has  ended.  We  are  within 
sight  of  the  goal,  and  have  but  to  press  the 
advantage  gained. 

A  native  Church  of  vigour  and  power  has 
been  planted  in  the  mission  field.  It  is  in  a 
sense  an  indigenous  Church,  rooted  in  the 
soil.     It  has  grown  and  spread  like  a  mustard 


24©  A   MISSIONARY   CHURCH 

seed.  In  the  older  fields  the  Church  is  com- 
ing into  a  state  of  self-consciousness  and  self- 
expression.  It  is  the  natural  and  logical  out- 
come of  more  than  a  century  of  faithful  seed 
sowing  and  cultivation.  Native  leaders  of 
capacity  have  been  trained  on  the  field. 
Christianity  has  become  the  religion  of  the 
home — its  hymns  and  its  prayers  are  in  the 
vernacular  of  the  people.  It  is  in  these  fields 
to  stay,  and  a  withdrawal  of  the  missionary 
force  would  not  uproot  it. 

Missionaries  and  Boards  are  at  times  per- 
plexed at  the  stirring  of  independent  thought 
and  life  in  the  young  Church.  For  years 
they  have  prayed  for  growth  and  fruitfulness, 
and  have  hoped  and  planned  for  self-support 
and  self-propagation.  But  when  prayers 
have  been  answered,  and  plans  are  reaching 
fruition,  uneasiness  is  created  by  the  spirit  of 
independence.  Methods  of  self-government 
and  forms  of  polity  differing  from  that  of  the 
mother  Church  are  feared.  Beyond  a  care- 
ful indoctrination  in  the  principles  of  Chris- 
tianity, is  it  wise  and  have  we  a  right  to  run 
an  Oriental  membership  through  Occidental 
moulds  ?  To  foreignize  may  be  to  create  **  an 
imperfect  imitation  of  the  imperfect  Church 
at  home."  To  westernize  may  be  to  place  a 
yoke  upon  young  shoulders  difficult  to  bear, 


A  MISSIONARY  CHURCH  24I 

and  may  result  in  arresting  spontaneity,  if 
not  growth  itself.  Soundly  converted  men 
and  women  have  witnessed  to  the  faith,  and 
sealed  their  testimony  with  their  blood. 
Thousands  more  are  ready  to  follow  in  their 
train.  Surely  the  task  of  the  maintenance 
and  propagation  of  Christianity  must,  under 
the  guidance  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  be  en- 
trusted to  them. 

It  does  not  necessarily  follow  that  the 
evangelization  of  the  world  demands  organic 
union  of  Churches  on  the  mission  field, 
though  in  some  cases  that  is  desirable  and 
in  the  providence  of  God  will  surely  be 
brought  about.  But  to  do  the  work  which 
has  been  committed  to  us  with  the  greatest 
possible  economy  and  efficiency  and  to  finish 
the  task  at  the  earliest  possible  day,  there 
must  be  coordinate  and  cooperative  effort  far 
beyond  what  has  yet  been  attempted.  To 
fail  here  is  to  be  untrue  to  the  tremendous 
responsibility  which  we  have  assumed  in  ac- 
cepting the  Gospel. 

Commission  VIII  of  the  World  Missionary 
Conference  at  Edinburgh  gave  expression  to 
the  following  sentiment : 

'*  We  are  beginning  to  see  that  the  Church 
is  again  facing  a  mighty  conflict,  like  that 
which  arose  when  the  living  forces  of  the 


242  A  MISSIONARY   CHURCH 

Gospel  contended  with  the  forces  of  the 
pagan  world  in  the  early  centuries.  While 
we  recognize  the  incidental  advantages  which 
may  result  from  separate  administrations,  and 
rejoice  in  the  testimony  to  any  successful 
efTorts  which  have  been  made  to  improve  or- 
ganization and  promote  cooperation,  yet  the 
fact  remains  that  the  Christian  forces  are 
confronting  their  gigantic  task  without  ade- 
quate combination  and  without  sufficient 
generalship.'^ 

There  are  indications  of  a  movement  in  a 
number  of  fields  which  looks  to  a  unification 
of  purpose  and  the  wise  conservation  of  work- 
ing force  which  must  tell  in  the  near  future 
upon  the  advance  of  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

The  Federation  of  Evangelical  Churches 
which  makes  provision  for  provincial  coun- 
cils and  a  national  federal  council  in  India, 
includes  Methodists,  Presbyterians,  Friends, 
Disciples  of  Christ  and  other  denominations. 
The  constitution  provides  that  while  '*  the 
Federation  shall  not  interfere  with  the  exist- 
ing creed  of  any  church  or  society,  the  fed- 
erating churches  agree  to  recognize  each 
other's  discipline  and  to  welcome  members 
of  other  federating  churches  to  Christian  fel- 
lowship and  communion,"  and  that  "  the  ob- 
ject of  the  Federation  shall  be  to  attain  a 


A  MISSIONARY  CHURCH  243 

more  perfect  manifestation  of  the  unity  of 
His  disciples  for  which  the  Redeemer  prayed, 
by  fostering  and  encouraging  the  sentiment 
and  practice  of  union."  The  importance  of 
this  movement  cannot  be  overstated  since  it 
looks  to  complete  occupation,  economy,  na- 
tive agency  and  the  most  effective  distribu- 
tion of  forces  in  order  to  the  evangehzation 
of  India. 

Dr.  Arthur  J.  Brown,  in  his  timely  lectures 
on  "  Unity  and  Missions,"  refers  to  the  action 
of  the  missionary  body  in  the  Philippines  as 
one  which,  while  it  does  not  ignore  the  diffi- 
culties of  such  federation,  recognizes  the  ne- 
cessity and  the  wisdom  for  a  determined 
effort  to  bring  the  evangelistic  forces  at  work 
into  a  cooperative  whole. 

The  Evangelical  Union  of  the  Philippines 
sets  forth  as  its  object  the  union  of  "  all  the 
evangelical  forces  in  the  Philippine  Islands 
for  the  purpose  of  securing  comity  and  effect- 
iveness in  their  missionary  operations."  In 
its  constitution,  among  other  provisions,  the 
following  with  regard  to  the  division  of  ter- 
ritory was  adopted : 

**  Whereas,  several  evangelical  missionary 
societies  are  entering  upon  their  work  in  the 
Philippine  Islands,  and  whereas  the  evan' 
gelization    of    these    people    will    be    more 


244  A  MISSIONARY  CHURCH 

Speedily  accomplished  by  a  division  of  the 
territory,  thus  avoiding  waste  of  labour,  time 
and  money  arising  from  the  occupation  of 
the  same  district  by  more  than  one  society, 
which  has  marred  the  work  in  other  and 
older  fields ;  therefore, 

**  Be  it  resolved,  That  each  mission  now 
represented  on  the  field  accept  the  responsi- 
bility for  the  evangelization  of  certain  well- 
defined  areas,  to  be  mutually  agreed  upon, 
such  agreement  to  be  open  to  revision  at  the 
end  of  three  years  by  the  Evangelical  Union 
at  its  regular  meeting."  ^ 

The  world  will  never  be  won  by  emphasiz- 
ing our  denominational  differences,  but  by 
magnifying  the  great  fundamental  truths 
which  we  hold  in  common  as  evangelical 
churches — truths  which  are  vital  and  incon- 
vertible because  of  their  relation  to  Jesus 
Christ  our  common  Lord,  who  is  Himself  the 
author  and  finisher  of  our  faith.  It  will 
never  be  evangelized  by  any  union  of 
workers  at  home  or  abroad,  which  has  a 
single  compulsory  element  in  it.  At  the 
same  time,  it  will  never  be  won  for  Christ  so 
long  as  we  present  a  divided  front  to  hea- 
thenism. The  ranks  must  be  closed  up. 
There  must  be  one  great  unifying  purpose, 

» A.  J.  Brown,  "  Unity  and  Missions,"  pp.  148-149. 


A  MISSIONARY  CHURCH  245 

and  one  spirit  animating  the  body — that  of 
Him  who  said  of  Himself,  "  And  I,  if  I  be 
lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw  all  men 
unto  Me."  Here  is  where  the  enduring 
emphasis  must  be  placed.  He  is  the  centre 
about  which  all  effort  for  the  extension  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God  must  be  organized. 

It  is  Jesus  who  is  '*  far  above  all  rule,  and 
authority,  and  power,  and  dominion,  and 
every  name  that  is  named,  not  only  in  this 
world,  but  also  in  that  which  is  to  come." 
It  is  the  Christ  of  God  the  Father,  who  hath 
had  all  things  put  in  subjection  under  His 
feet,  and  who  has  been  given  to  be  head 
over  all  things  to  the  Church,  which  is  His 
body,  the  fullness  of  Him  that  filleth  all  in 
all." 

It  is  this  same  Jesus  who  prayed,  "  And 
the  glory  which  Thou  hast  given  Me  I  have 
given  unto  them ;  that  they  may  be  one, 
even  as  we  are  one."  Shall  we  not  with  the 
great  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles  reverently  bow 
our  knees  unto  the  Father  and  say  :  **  Now 
unto  Him  that  is  able  to  do  exceeding 
abundantly  above  all  that  we  ask  or  think, 
according  to  the  power  that  worketh  in  us, 
unto  Him  be  glory  in  the  Church,  and  in 
Christ  Jesus  unto  all  generations  forever  and 
ever.     Amen." 


LECTURE  VI 
THE  PREEMINENCE  OF  CHRIST 


LECTURE  VI 
THE  PREEMINENCE  OF  CHRIST 

AS  in  the  stellar  worlds  there  is  said  to 
be  a  central  cosmic  sun  about  which 
all  worlds  revolve,  so  in  the  world 
of  men  and  of  spirits  must  Christ  be  central 
and  regnant.  To  hold  the  universe  of  nature 
with  all  its  flying  orbs  of  fire  and  of  light ; 
the  supernatural  with  all  its  principalities  and 
powers ;  the  universe  of  men  and  myriads  of 
angels  in  one  cohesive,  intelligent,  purpose- 
ful whole,  there  must  be  one  supreme  and 
dominant  figure ;  not  blind  force,  but  a  reg- 
nant, masterful  person.  That  ruling,  reign- 
ing spirit  is  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son,  whom  God 
"  appointed  heir  of  all  things,  by  whom  also 
He  made  the  worlds ;  who  being  the  efful- 
gence of  His  glory,  and  the  very  image  of  His 
substance,  and  upholding  all  things  by  the 
word  of  His  power,  when  He  had  made 
purifications  of  sins,  sat  down  on  the  right 
hand  of  the  Majesty  on  high  ;  having  become 
by  so  much  better  than  the  angels,  as  He 
hath  inherited  a  more  excellent  name  than 
249 


250       THE   PREEMINENCE  OF  CHRIST 

they."  It  was  not  unto  men,  nor  unto 
angels,  but  unto  the  Son  that  it  was  said, 
''Thy  throne,  O  God,  is  forever  and  ever; 
and  the  sceptre  of  uprightness  is  the  sceptre 
of  Thy  Kingdom." 

An  imperial  Christ  is  represented  by  an 
imperial  gospel.  His  scheme  of  redemption 
is  world-wide  in  its  conception,  terms  of 
grace,  inspiration  to  man's  faith,  and  applica- 
tion to  man's  need.  His  is  a  royal  decree 
which  commissions  the  Church  and  places 
imperative  obligation  upon  His  followers  to 
go  and  preach  His  Gospel  to  every  creature. 
No  humbler  soul  ever  walked  among  men, 
and  yet  no  more  majestic  figure  ever  trod 
the  earth.  He  emptied  Himself  that  He 
might  serve — He  claimed  His  divine  Sonship 
that  He  might  command  nature  and  the 
supernatural,  men  and  angels  to  do  His  will. 
He  bore  the  cross  that  we  might  wear  the 
crown,  and  tasted  death  for  every  man  that 
we  might  be  called  the  sons  of  God.  He  is 
the  world's  dynamic. 

As  the  Washington  monument  towering 
over  our  national  Capitol  seems  to  lift  itself 
higher  and  higher  as  it  recedes  from  view,  so 
the  Man  of  Galilee  grows  upon  mankind  as 
the  centuries  mark  the  mile-stones  of  human 
history   from    His   advent    into    the   world. 


THE  PREEMINENCE  OF  CHRIST        25 1 

"  If  we  estimate,"  writes  Romanes  in  his 
"Thoughts  on  Religion,"  **the  greatness  of  a 
man  by  the  influence  which  he  has  exerted 
on  mankind,  there  can  be  no  question,  even 
from  the  secular  point  of  view,  that  Christ 
is  much  the  greatest  man  who  has  ever 
lived." 

It  was  said  of  Socrates  that  he  died  like  a 
man,  and  of  Jesus  that  He  died  like  a  God. 
But  Jesus  did  not  come  to  teach  men  how  to 
die.  He  came  to  teach  them  how  to  live. 
His  sacrificial  death  as  an  atonement  for  the 
sins  of  the  world  lifts  Him  at  once  out  of  the 
category  of  men.  But  the  giving  of  one's  life 
for  the  carrying  of  Christ's  message  of  love 
to  the  ends  of  the  earth  is  not  too  great  a 
sacrifice  for  any  man.  It  was  rather  to  teach 
men  how  to  live  a  sacrificial  life  that  Jesus 
rose  again,  a  far  more  difficult  thing  to  do 
than  laying  a  man's  life  down.  The  motives 
He  gives,  the  principles  laid  down,  and  His 
doctrines  declared,  are  those  which  have  for 
their  object  the  richest  and  most  fruitful  life 
possible  to  man.  The  truths  which  He  im- 
parts as  the  world's  greatest  teacher  are 
germinal  seeds  out  of  which  life  grows.  It  is 
the  carrying  of  these  seeds  to  those  who  are 
remote,  and  their  faithful  planting  under  the 
quickening  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  that 


252        THE   PREEMINENCE  OF  CHRIST 

may  be  counted  upon  to  yield  the  fruits  of 
the  Spirit  in  the  lives  of  men.  Those  fruits 
are  love,  joy,  peace, — principles  and  poten- 
tialities out  of  which  spiritual  empires  may 
be  builded  if  men  would  only  yield  their  am- 
bitions to  Him. 

Viewing-  Jesus  as  a  man  what  is  the  ver- 
dict of  those  who  have  studied  His  life  and 
character  ?     Ernest  Renan  writes  : 

"  All  history  is  incomprehensible  without 
Him.  He  created  the  object  and  fixed  the 
starting  point  of  the  future  faith  of  humanity. 
He  is  the  incomparable  man  to  whom  the 
universal  conscience  has  decreed  the  title  of 
Son  of  God,  and  that  with  justice.  In  the 
first  rank  of  this  grand  family  of  the  true  sons 
of  God  we  must  place  Jesus.  The  highest 
consciousness  of  God  which  ever  existed  in 
the  breast  of  humanity  was  that  of  Jesus. 
Repose  now  in  Thy  glory,  noble  founder  ! 
Thy  work  is  finished.  Thy  divinity  established. 
Thou  shalt  become  the  corner-stone  of  hu- 
manity so  entirely  that  to  tear  Thy  name 
from  this  world  would  rend  it  to  its  founda- 
tions. Between  Thee  and  God  there  will  no 
longer  be  any  distinction.  Complete  Con- 
queror of  death,  take  possession  of  Thy  King- 
dom, whither  shall  follow  Thee,  by  the  royal 
road  which  Thou  hast  traced,  ages  of  adoring 


THE   PREEMINENCE  OF  CHRIST       253 

worshippers.  Whatever  may  be  the  sur- 
prises of  the  future,  Jesus  will  never  be  sur- 
passed. His  worship  will  grow  young  with- 
out ceasing  ;  His  legend  will  call  forth  tears 
without  end  ;  His  sufferings  will  melt  the 
noblest  hearts  ;  and  all  ages  will  proclaim 
that  among  the  sons  of  men  there  is  none 
born  greater  than  Jesus." 

Christianity  is  a  religion  with  the  most  sub- 
stantial elements  of  permanency  and  vitality 
for  its  content,  and  the  largest  promise  of 
universality.  For  two  thousand  years  it  has 
stood  the  most  crucial  tests,  and  at  the  same 
time  has  spread  to  the  limits  of  humanity. 
Nor  has  it  lost  its  vitality  by  age.  Nations, 
institutions  and  civilizations  may  decay  and 
disappear.  It  constantly  renews  its  youth 
and  its  strength  by  a  return  to  the  divine 
source  of  its  life,  its  inspiration  and  its  power. 
Therein  lies  its  permanency.  ''  All  flesh  is 
grass,  and  all  the  goodliness  thereof  is  as  the 
flower  of  the  field,"  exclaims  the  prophet. 
"  The  grass  withereth,  the  flower  fadeth,  but 
the  Word  of  our  God  shall  stand  forever." 

It  is  not  one  of  several  religions — it  is  the 
only  religion.  It  is  not  a  religion  for  a  par- 
ticular people — it  is  for  all  nations.  It  is  not 
the  religion  of  the  West,  nor  is  it  of  the  East, 
but  a  universal  religion   revealed   in    world 


254       THE   PREEMINENCE   OF  CHRIST 

terms.  When  the  Psahnist  comes  to  give 
utterance  to  God's  promise  to  His  Son,  He 
says :  ''  Ask  of  Me  and  I  shall  give  thee  the 
nations  for  thine  inheritance,  and  the  utter- 
most parts  of  the  earth  for  thy  possession." 
It  is  Christ  Himself  who  expressed  the  Gospel 
in  terms  capable  of  infinite  expansion  :  "  For 
God  so  loved  the  world,  that  He  gave  His 
only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth 
on  Him  should  not  perish,  but  have  eternal 
life."  The  great  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles  held 
this  cosmopolitanism  steadily  in  view  when 
he  wrote  to  the  Romans,  **  I  am  not  ashamed 
of  the  Gospel  of  Christ ;  for  it  is  the  power  of 
God  unto  salvation  to  every  one  that  be- 
lieveth; to  the  Jew  first  and  also  to  the 
Greek." 

The  glory  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  has 
always  been  its  absolute  freedom.  It  forms 
no  caste  to  restrict  its  progress.  It  is  at  lib- 
erty to  dip  down  to  the  lowest  pariah  and 
reach  up  to  the  highest  levels  of  social  life. 
It  preempts  no  territory,  closes  no  door,  and 
excludes  none  from  its  privileges  and  does 
not  hesitate  to  ofTer  God's  grace  on  the  same 
terms  to  the  Roman  soldier  gripping  his 
spear,  to  the  king  grasping  his  sceptre,  to  the 
proud  owner  of  the  Italian  villa  and  his  slave 
destined  for  the  gladiatorial  arena.    "Noth- 


THE  PREEMINENCE  OF  CHRIST       255 

ing,"  says  the  Apostle,  "  can  separate  us  from 
the  love  of  Christ." 

Christianity  seeks  man  at  his  worst  and 
brings  him  to  his  best.  This  is  its  task  and 
this  the  glory  of  its  mission.  If  a  mountain 
range  is  measured  by  the  distance  between 
its  deepest  valleys  and  its  highest  peaks,  a 
religion  must  be  measured  by  the  power  to 
transform  the  most  degraded  into  a  lofty 
nobleness  of  life  and  character.  Judged  by 
this  standard,  Christianity  stands  without  a 
peer,  and  rejoices  in  its  mission  of  recrea- 
tion, restoration,  and  good  cheer.  It  starts 
with  the  uprooting  of  sin,  but  it  does  not  stop 
short  of  the  infilling  of  the  Spirit.  An 
emptied  life  must  become  a  spirit-filled  life  ; 
an  incomplete  life  must  become  a  perfected 
life  by  the  grace  of  God,  through  the  power 
of  God,  and  into  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

The  message  of  the  missionary  cannot  be 
delivered  with  power  unless  he  is  impelled 
by  the  love  of  Christ.  Neither  can  he  realize 
the  power  and  urgency  of  his  message  unless 
he  is  filled  with  love  for  men.  Christ  alone 
can  create  a  yearning  for  the  lost,  and  a  will- 
ingness to  become  all  things  to  all  men.  The 
truth,  to  have  power  with  men,  must  be 
spoken  simply,  sincerely,  and  with  that  love 
into  which  truth  may  pour  itself ;  an  incarna- 


256       THE   PREEMINENCE   OF   CHRIST 

tion  as  it  were  of  truth  expressed  in  terms  of 
love.  What  is  the  final  answer  to  the  need  of 
our  age  ?  It  is  not  the  love  of  truth  for  the 
sake  of  the  truth,  neither  is  it  the  love  of  life 
for  the  sake  of  life,  but  the  love  of  truth  and 
the  sacrifice  of  life  for  the  sake  of  man. 
Christ  did  not  die  for  the  truth,  though  He 
counted  it  as  dear  as  life,  but  He  died  for  sin- 
ful men  that  they  might  be  redeemed  from 
sin  into  a  life  of  service  through  time  and 
through  eternity. 

Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  Living  God, 
made  preeminent  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  is  the 
supreme  and  final  answer  to  the  need  of  our 
age.  All  life  must  be  related  to  His  life  ;  all 
faith  must  be  centred  in  Him.  His  revela- 
tion of  the  Father  is  the  world's  most  precious 
truth  ;  His  love  the  world's  greatest  dynamic ; 
His  life  and  ministry  man's  best  illustration  of 
the  possibilities  of  a  glorified  and  consecrated 
manhood. 

The  world's  religious  faiths  have  their 
roots  deeply  embedded  in  the  past.  Those 
roots  have  become  dry  and  sterile.  There  is 
one  guarantee  that  Christianity  will  not  share 
their  fate.  That  is  the  living  Christ  who  is 
in  the  midst  of  humanity,  the  heir  of  all  the 
ages,  to  reenforce  His  teachings,  making 
them   ever    new    and    ever    fresh.     Without 


THE  PREEMINENCE  OF  CHRIST       257 

this,  His  followers  would  become  utterly 
hopeless.  With  it  they  are  blessed  with  an 
optimism  born  of  a  faith  which  will  stand 
the  supremest  tests  of  life,  here  and  hereafter. 

It  has  been  well  said  that  '*  the  function  of 
great  beliefs  is  not  to  find  perfect  men,  but  to 
make  them."  It  takes  more  than  a  great  be- 
lief, however,  to  make  a  perfect  man,  though 
faith  is  a  large  element  in  such  divine  work 
as  that  of  building  men.  Christianity  seeks 
for  lost  men,  sinful  men,  and  out  of  this  poor 
material  builds  character,  commissions  wit- 
nesses, and  creates  a  kingdom  of  light.  But 
after  all,  it  is  Christ  in  Christianity  doing  the 
work.  There  is  no  Christianity  without 
Christ — the  central  force,  the  driving  power, 
and  organizing  personality  of  the  moral  and 
spiritual  universe. 

*'  The  most  stupendous  and  irrefragible 
proof  of  the  truth  of  Christianity  is  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  Himself.  It  is  the  solitary 
grandeur,  the  sublime  character,  the  divine 
teaching  of  this  mysterious  One,  this  sublime 
Christ,  this  effulgence  of  His  Father's  glory 
and  the  very  image  of  His  substance  which 
we  are  to  resemble  :  we  are  to  be  not  like 
some  glowing  seraph  who  stands  beside  His 
throne,  not  like  some  archangel  who  flees  to 
do  His  will  ;  but  like  Him  who  is  *  the  chief- 


258       THE   PREEMINENCE   OF  CHRIST 

est  among  ten  thousand  ' — *  the  altogether 
lovely.'  "  ' 

We  make  Christ  preeminent  because  our 
life,  our  service,  our  power  to  bring  forth 
fruit,  are  all  centred  in  Him  and  drawn  from 
Him.  If  we  are  dependent  upon  Christ,  He 
is  in  a  mysterious  sense  dependent  upon 
us.  I  say  it  reverently.  But  He  has  taught 
it.  He  is  the  vine,  we  are  the  branches.  He 
is  the  corner-stone,  we  are  the  building  fitly 
framed  together.  He  is  the  head,  the  Church 
is  His  body — His  hands,  His  feet — His  only 
means  of  expressing  Himself  to  the  world,  of 
conveying  His  message  to  lost  men. 

What  more  wonderful,  what  more  inspiring 
to  mortal  man  than  to  have  a  share  in  the  mani- 
festation, the  unveiling,  the  epiphany  of  the  Son 
of  God.  Christ  as  our  mediator  has  taken  the 
High  Priest's  place,  and  man  through  Jesus 
Christ  now  comes  boldly  unto  a  throne  of 
grace,  then  filled  and  impelled  by  the  Spirit, 
he  goes  forth  to  unveil,  by  his  life  and  testi- 
mony, the  Christ  to  his  fellow  men.  Indeed, 
he  himself  as  he  grows  to  be  Christlike  be- 
comes a  lesser  manifestation  of  the  glorious 
epiphany. 

Jesus  came  to  save  lost  men,  and  in  doing 

1  The  Rt.  Rev.  M.   S.  Baldwin,  Bishop  of  Huron,  Student 
Volunteer  Convention,  1898. 


THE   PREEMINENCE   OF   CHRIST        259 

this  to  save  the  world.  He  chose  to  send 
His  Gospel  to  the  world  through  men.  He 
might  have  selected  angels,  but  it  was  not  in 
God's  plan.  Men  could  do  it  better  than  an- 
gels, because  Jesus  Himself  became  a  man. 
Men  were  more  fit  than  angels  because  they 
were  a  part  of  humanity,  sharers  of  its  sin  and 
sufferers  from  its  guilt,  but  fellow  heirs  in  a 
Christly  purpose  and  in  the  glory  of  redemp- 
tion. Men  on  such  a  mission  must  become 
Christlike.  They  do  become  Christlike  in 
their  self-denying  ministry  to  other  men,  and 
win  by  the  power  and  passion  of  an  all- 
conquering  love. 

The  Master  uttered  a  great  truth  in  terms 
of  a  paradox  when  He  said :  *'  Whosoever 
would  save  his  life  will  lose  it :  but  whoso- 
ever shall  lose  his  life  for  My  sake,  the  same 
shall  save  it."  The  principle  holds  true  of 
our  efforts  to  save  others.  By  the  way  of 
the  cross  we  come  into  life  ourselves,  and  by 
the  same  way  we  bring  men  into  vital  union 
with  our  Lord.  The  sacrificial  spirit  of  the 
Master  must  be  interpreted  to  the  world  in 
terms  of  a  sacrificial  life.  The  sufferings  of 
Christ,  wrought  into  our  lives,  become  by 
some  mysterious  process  **  profoundly  co- 
operative with  His  in  the  ministry  of  salva- 
tion."    It   is   often  through  the  deepest  ex- 


26o       THE   PREEMINENCE  OF  CHRIST 

perience  of  suffering  that  we  find  the  richest 
ministry  of  service.  Is  it  not  in  a  very  real 
sense  an  identification  with  Him  ?  The 
Apostle  understood  the  profound  significance 
of  it  all,  and  with  reverent  spirit  accepted  the 
privileged  fellowship  when  he  exclaimed,  '*  I 
fill  up  that  which  is  behind  of  the  sufferings 
of  Christ."  .  .  .  *'  Who  is  weak  and  I 
am  not  weak ;  who  is  offended  and  I  burn 
not  ? "  .  .  .  *'  I  bear  in  my  body  the 
marks  (the  brands)  of  the  Lord  Jesus." 

Not  long  after  the  Boxer  Movement  Dr. 
Harlan  P.  Beach  spent  a  Sunday  in  North 
China.  It  was  the  day  for  the  sacrament 
of  the  Lord's  Supper.  The  elements  were 
passed  by  native  elders,  among  whom  was 
one  whose  hands  were  terribly  misshapen. 
As  the  broken  bread  was  presented  to  him 
by  this  Chinese  brother,  the  doctor  involun- 
tarily shuddered — it  was  those  misshapen 
hands.  Why  had  they  permitted  a  diseased 
man,  or  one  maimed,  to  be  a  bearer  of  these 
memorials  ? 

The  service  over,  the  question  was  asked 
and  the  answer  given.  This  man  had  been 
counted  faithful.  He  was  a  notable  illustra- 
tion of  a  living  faith  in  a  preeminent  Christ. 
The  Boxers  had  put  him  to  the  test.  When 
urged  to  deny  his  Lord  he  refused.     Again 


THE   PREEMINENCE   OF   CHRIST       261 

and  again  his  poor  tortured  body  was  flung 
upon  the  rack  with  stick  and  cord  upon  his 
hands  until  they  hung  Hmp  and  Hfeless  be- 
yond recovery.  But  faith  rose  triumphant 
over  all  the  enemies  of  the  Cross.  They 
might  destroy  his  body — they  could  not  de- 
throne his  Christ. 

Only  an  humble  Chinaman,  far  from  the 
centres  of  Christian  thought  and  activity  in 
the  west  from  which  the  Gospel  came.  Only 
a  simple  minded  trustful  believer  in  Jesus — 
but  those  scars,  how  they  glowed  with  light 
in  the  doctor's  eyes  after  that  day.  Ten 
thousand  had  perished  for  their  faith.  This 
man  had  lived  to  suffer,  to  have  continued 
fellowship  in  sufferings,  and  to  bear  upon  his 
body  the  brands  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  but  through 
that  suffering  and  fellowship  his  Christ  had 
been  made  preeminent. 

The  faith  of  the  native  Christian  on  the 
mission  field  is  beautiful  in  its  simplicity. 
He  knows  nothing  about  the  Christ  of  art 
and  of  literature,  and  little  about  the  Christ 
of  history  and  of  theology ;  the  central  and 
vital  thing  of  all  is  that  he  does  know  Jesus — 
the  Christ — the  Son  of  the  living  God,  trusts 
Him,  would  die  for  Him  and  ever  seeks  to 
make  Him  preeminent.  These  are  the  cre- 
dentials of  Christianity.     They  are  not  creeds 


262        THE   PREEMINENCE   OF   CHRIST 

or  formulas  inscribed  on  parchment,  or  cut  in 
stone,  but  living  epistles  emblazoned  with 
fire,  messengers  who  speed  like  arrows 
straight  from  the  bowstring,  sent  not  by  the 
hands  of  a  man,  but  shot  forth  by  the  im- 
pulsion of  a  God.  To  a  Chinaman  belongs 
an  honour  greater  than  that  of  the  Victoria 
Cross  on  the  field  of  battle.  It's  that  of  de- 
liberately selling  himself  as  a  slave,  that  in 
accompanying  his  fellow  countrymen  in  the 
hold  of  a  coolie  ship  on  the  voyage  to  South 
America,  and  in  the  mines  he  might  find  op- 
portunity to  win  them  for  his  Lord  and 
Master. 

It  is  not,  therefore,  so  much  the  Christ  of 
history,  nor  the  Christ  of  theology  we  would 
seek  to  present  to  men  in  the  evangelization 
of  the  world,  but  the  personal  Christ.  He  it 
is  who  seeks  to  reveal  Himself  to  us,  who  de- 
sires to  have  us  share  in  His  life,  and  to  enter 
into  a  sense  of  real  and  vital  fellowship  with 
Him.  It  is  through  Jesus  that  we  are  to  come 
to  the  theology  of  the  schools.  It  is  through 
the  historical  Christ  to  the  theological  Christ, 
and  both  are  to  be  realized  by  an  overmaster- 
ing sense  of  the  presence  of  the  personal 
Christ,  dealing  with  the  individual  soul  until 
one  can  truly  say,  He  it  is  who  forgives  7ny 
sin,  renews  my  life,  and  impels  me  by  His  love. 


THE   PREEMINENCE   OF  CHRIST       263 

The  Kingdom  of  God  then  becomes  in  us 
an  acceptance  of  the  idea  and  the  fact  of  God 
as  realized  in  Jesus  Christ.  He  alone  of  all 
religious  teachers  has  been  able  to  make  God 
"  become  a  credible,  conceived,  believed,  real 
Being,"  a  personal  God  and  a  divine  Father. 
In  doing  this  through  His  own  flesh  and  by 
the  agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  He  has  estab- 
lished His  own  claims  to  divinity. 

"Jesus  Christ  is  a  name  that  represents 
the  most  wonderful  story  and  the  profoundest 
problem  on  the  field  of  history — the  one  be- 
cause the  other.  There  is  no  romance  so 
marvellous  as  the  most  prosaic  version  of 
His  history.  The  Son  of  a  despised  and 
hated  people,  meanly  born,  humbly  bred, 
without  letters,  without  opportunity,  unbe- 
friended,  never  save  for  one  brief  and  fatal 
moment  the  idol  of  the  crowd,  opposed  by 
the  rich,  resisted  by  the  religious  and  the 
learned,  persecuted  unto  death  by  the  priests, 
destined  to  a  life  as  short  as  it  was  obscure, 
issuing  from  His  obscurity  only  to  meet  a 
death  of  unpitied  infamy,  He  yet,  by  means  of 
His  very  sufferings  and  His  cross,  enters  upon 
a  throne  such  as  no  monarch  ever  filled  and  a 
dominion  such  as  no  Caesar  ever  exercised."  ^ 

1  Fairbairn,  «•  The   Place   of  Christ   in  Modern  Theology," 
pp.  6,  7. 


264       THE   PREEMINENCE   OF  CHRIST 

Warneck,  in  his  study  of  animistic  religion 
which  prevails  among  all  primitive  peoples, 
insists  that  **  fundamental  uncertainty  is  found 
everywhere."  The  answer  given  to  every 
deeper  question  is  "  We  do  not  know."  A 
heathen  in  Suriname  admitted  *'  You  serve  the 
truth  and  we  serve  lies.  The  lie  always  gains 
increasing  power  over  us."  Bankruptcy  of 
faith  and  consequent  uncertainty  always  fol- 
lows the  sacrifice  of  truth  upon  the  altar  of 
mendacity.  The  religious  life  of  the  heathen 
is  pervaded  by  an  atmosphere  of  falsehood. 
The  man  who  is  capable  of  a  religious  lie  soon 
becomes  the  possessor  of  a  lying  religion  with 
its  moral  sterility  and  spiritual  catastrophe. 

Out  of  this  loss  of  truth  comes  an  inversion 
of  the  entire  moral  order,  and  a  growing 
estrangement  from  God.  "A  melancholy 
gravity,  and  a  tragic  sadness  "  run  through 
animistic  religion.  "The  splendour  of  the 
tropics  has  been  unable,"  says  Warneck,  "  to 
brighten  the  religious  life  of  the  animist. 
The  results  of  his  reflection  are  dark,  hard, 
and  cheerless.  The  friendly  gods  are  far 
away,  the  spirits  are  numerous  and  formi- 
dable, their  service  hard,  while  fate  is  pitiless 
and   their   own   souls  unmerciful."  ^     In  my 

1  Warneck,  "The  Living  Christ  and  Dying  Heathenism," 
p.  81. 


THE   PREEMINENCE  OF  CHRIST       265 

own  travels  through  Central  Africa  I  passed 
through  entire  villages,  especially  on  the 
Upper  Congo,  where  I  did  not  hear  a  laugh 
save  the  occasional  prattle  of  a  child.  A 
cloud  of  gloom  and  death  seemed  to  have 
settled  down  like  a  pall.  There  is  no  hu- 
man release  from  the  grip  of  fatalism  which 
makes  the  heavens  like  brass  and  life  a 
tragedy.  No  relief  from  the  bondage  of 
evil  spirits  in  this  world  ;  no  hope  for  the  life 
to  come. 

It  takes  a  powerful  and  a  superhuman 
force  to  break  through  such  conditions  and 
give  man  hope  for  the  life  to  come.  Vital 
Christianity  is  alone  able  to  do  it.  Its  enter- 
prise of  missions  is  steadily  winning  the 
world.  Not  because  it  is  one  of  mechanics, 
but  of  dynamics.  It  is  not  ethical,  but  spir- 
itual. It  involves  a  force  the  most  potential 
in  the  universe,  but  that  force  is  personal, 
vital  and  concerns  every  man.  It  is  Jesus,  a 
personal  Saviour  to  be  presented  to  every 
sinful  man,  a  personal  Advocate  with  the 
Father  for  every  man,  and  a  Presence  in  the 
person  of  the  Holy  Spirit — manifesting  both 
the  Father  and  the  Son — God  with  us — with 
every  child  of  God  who  accepts  the  terms 
of  grace.  Immediately  present,  immanently 
present,  forever  present.     To  accept  this  Per- 


266       THE   PREEMINENCE  OF  CHRIST 

son,  to  realize  Him,  to  live  Him,  is  the  heart 
of  the  Gospel  and  the  soul  of  the  missionary- 
enterprise. 

If  the  world  is  to  be  won,  Christ  must  be 
made  preeminent  and  His  evangel  presented 
in  the  spirit  of  the  Apostle  who  wrote  to  the 
Thessalonians,  "  Our  Gospel  did  not  come 
to  you  in  word  only,  but  also  in  power,  and 
in  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  in  much  assurance." 

With  the  exception  of  a  personal  conscious- 
ness of  God,  nothing  so  convinces  men  as 
moral  certitude.  When  certitude  in  the  mes- 
sage and  consciousness  of  a  divine  sending 
in  the  messenger  are  united,  conviction 
through  the  Holy  Spirit  is  sure.  Men  have 
sought  for  God,  but  '*  None  of  the  religion  of 
the  Indian  Archipelago,  or  Africa,  has  ever 
conceived  of  God  making  Himself  known  to 
men."  Christianity,  on  the  other  hand,  is 
full  of  such  a  conception,  and  finds  its  deep- 
ening realization  in  Jesus  Christ.  How 
beautiful  the  certainty  of  faith  and  growing 
personal  experience  of  Christ  in  one  of  the 
greatest  preachers  of  our  age. 

**  All  experience  comes  to  be  but  more  and 
more  of  pressure  of  His  life  on  ours.  It  can- 
not come  by  one  flash  of  light,  or  one  great 
convulsive  event.  It  comes  without  haste 
and  without  rest  in  this  perpetual  living  of 


THE  PREEMINENCE  OF  CHRIST       267 

our  life  with  Him.  And  all  the  history,  of 
outer  or  inner  life,  of  the  changes  of  circum- 
stances, or  the  changes  of  thought,  gets  its 
meaning  and  value  from  the  constantly  grow- 
ing relation  to  Christ.  I  cannot  tell  you  how 
personal  this  grows  to  me.  He  is  here.  He 
knows  me  and  I  know  Him.  It  is  no  figure 
of  speech.  It  is  the  reallest  thing  in  the 
world.  And  every  day  makes  it  realler. 
And  one  wonders  with  delight  what  it  will 
grow  to  as  the  years  go  on."  ^ 

Christianity  has  brought  new  and  nobler 
ideals  into  the  world.  It  is  a  part  of  its  mis- 
sion. Ideals  are  not  mastered  by  men,  but 
men  by  their  ideals.  We  are  always  in  need 
of  a  reconsecration  to  our  ideals.  Human 
nature  is  weak.  Loyalty,  as  well  as  steel,  has 
its  breaking  point.  The  assault  upon  the 
citadel  of  our  nature  is  fierce,  and  is  liable  to 
be  renewed  when  weariness  and  pain  lower 
vitality,  and  when  the  power  of  resistance  is 
diminished.  A  man  in  such  hours  may  do 
things  that  are  unworthy  of  his  high  calling. 
There  is  a  real  danger,  then,  of  lowering  our 
ideals  and  of  cheapening  our  calling  and  of 
our  work. 

It  was  at  the  point  of  weakened  vitality 
that  the  tempter  made  his  first  fierce  assault 

*  Phillips  Brooks,  Sermons,  pp.  193-194. 


268       THE   PREEMINENCE   OF  CHRIST 

Upon  Jesus.  The  very  surroundings  were 
full  of  wild  suggestions.  Hunger  gnawed  at 
His  vitals,  the  atmosphere  was  oppressive 
with  a  sense  of  loneliness,  on  the  one  hand, 
and  of  the  pressure  of  the  powers  of  dark- 
ness, upon  the  other.  He  did  not  have  the 
companionship  of  three  sleeping  disciples 
even.  But  He  entered  the  arena  with  a  re- 
consecration  of  His  life  purpose  and  a  re- 
newal of  His  loyalty  to  God.  He  seized  the 
shield  of  faith,  and  wielded  the  sword  of  the 
Spirit.  Divine  credentials  had  been  given  at 
His  baptism.  There  was  such  a  conscious- 
ness of  Sonship,  and  of  a  heaven-sent  mission 
that  His  ideals  lifted  his  whole  life.  Jesus 
stood  upon  a  plane  where,  in  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord  of  Hosts,  He  could  meet  the  spirit  of  the 
evil  one  and  conquer.  He  triumphed  over 
the  power  of  the  flesh  and  of  the  devil,  but  by 
the  power  of  the  Spirit.  The  devil  left  Him 
and  angels  came  and  ministered  unto  Him. 

Dr.  Kenneth  MacKenzie  of  Tientsin  was  a 
noble  example  of  loyalty  to  ideals  and  to  Christ. 

The  success  of  Doctor  King  and  himself  in 
the  recovery  of  Lady  Li  opened  the  way  for 
the  most  tempting  offers  from  Li  Hung 
Chang,  the  Viceroy  of  the  metropolitan 
province.  These  were  the  more  seductive 
since  they  were  from  the   highest  official  of 


THE   PREEMINENCE  OF   CHRIST       269 

the  Chinese  empire,  who  had  become  favour- 
able to  missionary  medical  work,  and  seemed 
to  open  the  way  to  princely  friendships, 
imperial  favour,  and  almost  boundless  in- 
fluence. This  came  at  a  time  of  great 
domestic  sorrow,  much  loneliness  and  severe 
trial.  His  wife,  disordered  in  mind,  had  to 
be  cared  for  in  England.  It  was  a  sore 
temptation  to  accept  these  brilliant  offers. 
Had  he  done  so,  instead  of  enhanced  in- 
fluence and  a  larger  field  he  might  have  lost 
the  central  purpose  of  his  life,  and  with  it  all 
that  was  worth  while. 

Steadfastly  MacKenzie  held  the  even  tenor 
of  his  way,  healing  the  sick  and  preaching 
the  Gospel.  What  was  the  sustaining  power 
of  a  life  which  thus  refused  to  cheapen  itself 
and  steadily  pursuing  its  one  great  aim  main- 
tained its  high  purpose  ?  It  was  a  deepen- 
ing prayer-life,  and  the  daily  renewal  of  his 
ideals.  His  bedroom  was  a  library  of  devo- 
tional literature,  and  its  walls  were  hung  with 
reminders  of  an  unseen  Presence.  In  the  re- 
tirement of  his  closet,  and  in  audiences  with 
the  Viceroy ;  in  the  hospital  chapel  and  by 
the  bedside  of  the  lowliest  patient,  he  silently 
practiced  the  presence  of  God. 

Here  was  a  man  who  won  men  while 
touching  science  at  its  highest  points,  and 


270       THE   PREEMINENCE   OF   CHRIST 

human  need  at  its  deepest  depths  ;  whose 
only  passion  was  Christ,  and  whose  supreme 
work  was  to  make  men  whole.  It  was  said 
of  him  that  he  brought  more  souls  to  Jesus 
Christ  the  last  year  of  his  life  than  the  entire 
mission  put  together.  What  wonder  that  a 
poor  old  Chinese  farmer  at  midnight,  as  he 
lay  dying,  exclaimed,  **  I  cannot  go  I  I  can- 
not go  !  until  I  tell  the  doctor  farewell ;  it  was 
he  who  led  me  to  Jesus."  There  through  the 
small  hours,  by  the  old  man  in  the  hospital 
ward,  sat  the  beloved  physician,  unmindful  of 
a  weary  body,  for  angelic  messengers  were 
bending  to  earth,  and  the  morning  stars  were 
singing  together. 

What  had  happened  ?  Was  it  the  celestial 
city  let  down  from  above  ?  Has  God  the 
Father  changed  that  He  would  thus  commit 
so  heavenly  a  ministry  to  men  ?  He  has 
not  changed.  God  has  ever  yearned  over 
the  world  and  loved  it. 

"  The  world  itself  is  changed  and  is  no 
more  the  same  that  it  was  ;  it  has  never  been 
the  same  since  Jesus  left  it.  The  air  is 
charged  with  heavenly  odours,  and  a  kind  of 
celestial  consciousness,  a  sense  of  other 
worlds,  is  wafted  on  us  in  its  breath.  Let 
the  dark  ages  come,  let  society  roll  back- 
ward and   Churches  perish  in  whole  regions 


THE  PREEMINENCE  OF  CHRIST       271 

of  the  earth,  let  infidelity  deny,  and,  what  is 
worse,  let  spurious  piety  dishonour  the  truth  ; 
still  there  is  a  something  here  that  was  not, 
and  a  something  that  has  immortality  in  it. 
Still  our  confidence  remains  unshaken,  that 
Christ  and  His  all-quickening  life  are  in  the 
world,  as  fixed  elements,  and  will  be  to  the 
end  of  time ;  for  Christianity  is  not  so  much 
the  advent  of  a  better  doctrine  as  of  a  perfect 
character.  And  how  can  a  perfect  character, 
once  entered  into  life  and  history,  be  sepa- 
rated and  finally  expelled  ?  It  were  easier  to 
untwist  all  the  beams  of  light  in  the  sky, 
separating  and  expunging  one  of  the  colours, 
than  to  get  the  character  of  Jesus,  which  is 
the  real  Gospel,  out  of  the  world.  ...  In 
Him  dawns  a  hope — purity  has  not  come 
into  the  world  except  to  purify.  Behold  the 
Lamb  of  God,  that  taketh  away  the  sins  of 
the  world  !  Light  breaks  in,  peace  settles  on 
the  air,  lo  !  the  prison  walls  are  giving  way. 
Rise,  let  us  go."  ^ 

Our  conception  of  personality,  its  sacred- 
ness  and  power,  grows  with  our  deepening 
knowledge  of  God  the  Father  manifested  in 
Jesus  Christ,  who  is  God  the  Son.  It  is  a 
conception  which  in  us  is  expanded  from  the 
finite  terms  of  personality  to  the  infinite,  and 

*  Horace  Bushnell. 


272        THE  PREEMINENCE  OF  CHRIST 

brings  back  to  us  a  new  realization  of  the 
infinite  value  of  the  human  soul,  and  an 
awakened  and  intensified  obligation  to  seek 
lost  men  at  any  cost. 

This  enlarged  conception  of  personality 
was  ever  present  in  the  consciousness  of  the 
great  missionary  apostle.  It  was  because  he 
realized  Christ.  Nor  was  it  at  the  periphery 
of  his  Hfe  that  Paul  came  to  such  a  realiza- 
tion. It  was  at  the  centre.  Then  that  centre 
was  shifted  and  became  identified  with  the 
centre  of  spiritual  gravity — the  pivot  of  the 
universe.  This  is  the  explanation  of  the  fact 
that  Christ  was  the  source  and  inspiration 
of  his  missionary  activity.  It  was  not  the 
heavenly  vision  that  accounted  for  it,  though 
he  had  not  been  disobedient  to  the  vision. 
It  was  not  conviction,  though  he  had  a  pro- 
found sense  of  obligation,  and  could  say 
with  tremendous  emphasis,  '*  I  am  debtor 
both  to  the  Greeks  and  to  the  barbarians." 
It  was  not  because  he  was  sent  as  a  mes- 
senger with  divine  credentials,  though  he 
could  boast  more  than  any  other  man  of  his 
apostleship.  It  was  the  personal  Christ  to 
whom  he  had  surrendered  unconditionally, 
and  from  whom  he  had  received  that  spiritual 
gift  which  it  was  his  burning  desire  to  im- 
part to  others.     Identity  with  the  Christ  life 


THE  PREEMINENCE  OF  CHRIST       273 

had  become  the  supreme  fact,  and  he  was 
ready  to  interpret  vision,  enforce  his  message, 
declare  his  apostleship,  and  confess  his  in- 
debtedness to  all  men  in  terms  of  that  higher 
personality  into  which  his  own  had  been 
merged. 

It  was  at  the  New  Orleans  Missionary 
Conference  that  Bishop  Thoburn  exclaimed  : 
"  The  first  great  work  of  the  Spirit  of  God  is 
to  manifest  Christ  to  His  own  believers. 
Jesus  Christ  is  alive  to-day  ;  He  is  in  this 
world.  If  you  think  Paul  had  a  special 
miracle  wrought  in  his  case  when  he  says 
that  it  pleased  the  Father  to  reveal  the  Son 
in  him,  you  are  mistaken.  I  am  talking  to 
men  and  women  who  know  Jesus  Christ 
better  than  they  know  me,  far  better  than 
they  know  any  person  in  this  world.  Some 
of  you  understand  me  perfectly.  The  great 
truth  which  the  Christian  Church  needs  to 
learn  to-day,  and  to  thoroughly  master,  is 
that  Christ  is  manifested  to  His  own.  And 
He  is  not  only  manifested  to  them,  but  He  is 
with  them  in  the  world.  You  can  talk  to  Him 
to-night.  You  may  ask  :  '  Will  He  reply  ?  ' 
He  will  reply,  sometimes  through  His  provi- 
dence, sometimes  through  His  Word,  some- 
times by  a  whisper  from  His  own  loving  lips, 
and  oftentimes  by  a  manifestation  of  the  Spirit 


274       THE   PREEMINENCE   OF   CHRIST 

which  only  the  beUever  can  understand  ;  but 
I  would  feel  as  if  my  Gospel  were  gone  if  I 
did  not  know  that  there  is  One  above  all 
others  in  this  world,  whom  I  can  seek  and 
find,  and  with  whom  I  can  hold  converse  be- 
fore I  sleep  to-night."  ^ 

Was  there  anything  new  in  this  statement  ? 
For  years  this  veteran  missionary  had  been 
living  in  the  restful  assurance  of  a  conscious 
fellowship  with  Jesus  Christ  who  said  :  '*  Abide 
in  Me  and  I  in  you."  The  bishop  was  on  his 
way  from  Bombay  to  London.  An  avowed 
infidel — a  passenger  by  the  same  steamer — 
accosted  him  one  day  as  follows:  **I  learn 
that  you  are  a  missionary."  ''Yes,"  was  the 
reply.  ''  I  have  been  trying  to  preach  the 
Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  for  forty  years  in 
India."  **  Your  Christ  is  dead,"  answered 
the  sceptic ;  "  a  dead  Christ  cannot  save 
India."  The  bishop  quietly  replied,  ''  Yes, 
my  friend,  that  is  true,  but  Christ  is  not 
dead,  He  Hves.  I  met  Him  in  my  stateroom 
this  morning."  The  man  looked  at  him  in 
amazement.  He  made  no  rejoinder.  How 
could  he  in  the  presence  of  one  who  said  he 
knew  Christ  and  had  preached  Him  as  a 
living  and  ever  present   Saviour  for  nearly 

*  Thoburn,  "  Missionary  Issues  of  the  Twentieth  Century," 
P-52. 


THE   PREEMINENCE  OF  CHRIST       275 

half  a  century.  Such  certitude  and  such  as- 
surance were  overmastering.  The  conscious- 
ness of  a  personal  and  preeminent  Christ  is 
Christianity's  final  and  complete  answer  to 
heathenism  and  to  infidelity. 

Principal  Cairns  says  :  "  The  historical  fact 
of  Christ  is  the  central  secret  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament." That  being  true,  the  personal  fact 
of  Christ,  interpreted  by  experience,  is  the 
central,  pivotal  point  of  Christianity.  Every- 
thing hinges  on  this — on  Him,  it  would  be 
better  to  say,  and  especially  the  great  mis- 
sion of  the  Church  to  the  unsaved  world. 
Experimental  religion  is  at  the  heart  of  mis- 
sions, at  home  and  abroad ;  a  vital  saving 
faith  in  a  personal  Saviour,  who  saves  not  by 
historical  evidence,  but  by  His  personal 
presence,  **  touching  men  to-day  with  living 
hands,  and  searching  the  depths  of  men's 
personality  with  living  force." 

Christianity  is  not  a  doctrine  ;  it  is  a  truth. 
It  is  not  a  code  of  ethics  ;  it  is  a  Gospel.  It 
is  not  a  system  of  theology  ;  it  is  a  life.  It  is 
more  than  a  religion  ;  it  is  Christ.  Christian- 
ity has  for  its  content  a  divinely  revealed 
body  of  doctrine,  but  it  has  more ;  its  ethics 
have  never  been  surpassed,  but  it  strikes  its 
roots  into  a  soil  deeper  than  any  ethics ;  it 
embraces  all  the  framework  and  furniture  of 


276       THE   PREEMINENCE   OF   CHRIST 

theology,  but  there  may  be  a  theology  and  a 
sterilized  life  ;  it  is  a  religion  vital  and  true, 
but  that  religion  finds  its  only  centre  and  cir- 
cumference in  Jesus  Christ.  Without  Him 
the  whole  fabric  would  collapse.  With  Him 
faith  stands  secure.  In  Him  the  hope  of  hu- 
manity rests.  To  carry  Christianity  to  the 
world  is  to  carry  Christ  incarnate  to  those 
who  abide  in  Him,  and  in  whom  He  abides. 

God's  plan  of  redemption  in  Christ  in- 
cludes far  more  than  the  salvation  of  the  in- 
dividual, as  important  as  that  is,  and  with  all 
the  emphasis  that  Christianity  places  upon 
personality.  Jesus  came  not  only  to  save 
men,  but  man — all  mankind.  It  is  in  the 
corporate  relation — **  in  the  Church  that  God's 
consummate  glory  will  be  seen.  No  man  in 
his  fragmentary  selfhood,  no  number  of  men 
in  their  separate  capacity  can  conceivably  at- 
tain *  unto  the  fullness  of  God.'  It  will  need 
all  humanity  for  that — to  reflect  the  full-orbed 
splendour  of  divine  revelation.  Isolated  and 
divided  from  each  other,  we  render  to  God  a 
dimmed  and  partial  glory  .  .  .  where- 
fore the  Apostle  bids  us  '  receive  one  another, 
as  Christ  also  received  us,  to  the  glory  of 
God.'  " ' 

»  G.  G.  P'indlay,  "  The  Expositor's  Bible  "  :  Epistle  to  the 
Ephesians. 


THE   PREEMINENCE  OF  CHRIST       277 

It  is  by  Jesus  Christ  that  all  who  believe 
have  access  by  faith  into  the  grace  wherein 
we  stand.  Here  is  a  breadth  and  compre- 
hensiveness of  the  missionary  movement  in- 
augurated by  Jesus  Christ,  administered  by 
the  Spirit,  and  propagated  by  the  apostles 
which  knows  no  limitations  and  stops  at 
neither  nationality  nor  race.  As  Christ  re- 
ceived us  into  His  fellowship,  so  are  we  to 
extend  a  spiritual  brotherhood  which  shall  be 
all  inclusive  of  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in 
light. 

With  prophetic  vision  Isaiah  announced 
from  Jehovah  the  dawn  of  a  new  light  upon 
Israel  and  upon  the  world,  and  the  coming  of 
a  glorious  Prince  whose  name  should  be  Im- 
manuel,  God-With-Us.  This  Royal  Presence 
and  the  realization  of  it  in  Christ  has  been, 
and  is,  the  most  stupendous  fact  in  all  of  man's 
life,  past  or  present.  He  has  been  Immanuel 
while  man  groped  among  the  shadows,  in  cen- 
turies past,  and  Immanuel  as  man  stood  upon 
the  threshold  of  a  larger  life  and  rejoiced  in  the 
light  of  a  new  age  and  a  heaven-born  hope. 
What  wonder  that  the  evangelist,  seven  hun- 
dred years  later,  with  his  eyes  fixed  upon  the 
Messiah  should  quote  the  words  of  the 
prophet :  "  The  people  that  walked  in  dark- 
ness have  seen  a  great  light :  they  that  dwell 


278        THE   PREEMINENCE  OF  CHRIST 

in  the  land  of  the  shadow  of  death,  upon  them 
hath  the  light  shined." 

It  does  not  concern  us  here  whether  Isaiah's 
conception  is  limited  by  his  immediate  hori- 
zon, or  is  pushed  out  until  it  encompasses  the 
coming  of  the  Messiah.  What  does  concern 
us  is  the  realization  of  a  nation-long  desire, 
the  consummation  of  a  world's  expectation,  a 
new  emphasis  upon  personality,  the  vision  of 
a  spiritual  kingdom  in  terms  of  love  rather 
than  law,  a  deeper  meaning  given  to  man's 
sin,  and  God's  suffering,  and  "  the  pledge  of 
ultimate  salvation." 

''  Unto  us  a  child  is  born,  unto  us  a  son  is 
given,"  exclaims  the  prophet,  "  and  the  gov- 
ernment shall  be  upon  His  shoulder :  and  His 
name  shall  be  called  Wonderful,  Counsellor, 
The  Mighty  God,  The  Everlasting  Father, 
The  Prince  of  Peace.  Of  the  increase  of  His 
government  and  peace  there  shall  be  no  end, 
upon  the  throne  of  David,  and  upon  His 
kingdom  to  order  it,  and  to  establish  it  with 
judgment  and  with  justice  from  henceforth 
even  forever.  The  zeal  of  the  Lord  of  hosts 
will  perform  this." 

That  zeal  is  "  the  mixture  of  hot  honour 
and  affection  "  wherein  our  Father-God  de- 
mands much,  and  gives  more  than  He  de- 
mands.    "  It  is  that  overflow  of  the    love," 


THE  PREEMINENCE  OF  CHRIST        279 

writes  George  Adam  Smith,  "that  cannot 
keep  still,  which,  when  men  think  God  has 
surely  done  all  He  will  or  can  do  for  an  un- 
grateful race,  visits  them  in  their  distress,  and 
carries  them  forward  into  unconceived  dis- 
pensations of  grace  and  glory.  It  is  the 
Spirit  of  God,  which  yearns  after  the  lost, 
speaks  to  the  self-despairing  of  hope,  and  sur- 
prises rebel  and  prophet  alike  with  new  reve- 
lations of  love." 

It  is  in  the  Son  of  Man  that  the  desire  of 
the  nations  finds  expression,  and  in  the  Son 
of  God  that  divine  grace  and  truth  become 
incarnate.  How  beautiful  the  words  of  our 
own  poet,  Sidney  Lanier,  as  he  accords  the 
faultless,  flawless,  Peerless  One  His  rightful 
place  as  King  of  men  and  Lord  of  glory. 

''  But  Thee,  but  Thee,  O  sovereign  seer  of  Time. 
But  Thee,  O  Poet's  poet, Wisdom's  tongue, 
But  Thee,  O  man's  best  man, 
O  Love's  best  love, 
O  perfect  life  in  perfect  labour  writ. 
Of  all  men,  Comrade,  Servant,  King  or  Priest, 
What  if,  or  yet  what  mole,  what  flaw,  what  lapse, 
What  least  defect  or  shadow  of  defect, 
What  rumour,  tattled  by  an  enemy, 
Of  influence  loose,  what  lack  of  grace, 
Even  in  torture's  grasp,  or  sleep's  or  death's, 
O,  what  amiss  may  I  forgive  in  Thee, 
Jesus,  good  Paragon,  Thou  Crystal  Christ." 


28o       THE  PREEMINENCE  OF  CHRIST 

The  leadership  for  the  hour  must  be  that 
of  men  who  know  Jesus  Christ.  This  is  the 
prime  requisite.  Nothing  can  compensate 
for  the  lack  of  a  vital  personal  experience  of 
saving  faith  in  the  Son  of  God.  To  know 
God  in  Christ  is  to  apprehend  His  purpose, 
to  recognize  His  providence,  to  carry  out  His 
plans,  and  to  be  filled  with  His  spirit  in 
order  to  be  the  servants  of  His  will. 

As  important  as  they  are,  it  is  not  by 
conventions  and  conferences  that  we  are  to 
know  the  will  of  God  and  to  do  it,  but  in 
those  meetings  of  two  in  which  Christ  makes 
a  second,  and  of  three  in  which  He  makes  a 
third.  It  is  He  who  illuminates  the  mind, 
and  strengthens  the  purpose,  in  the  service 
of  the  Father.  It  was  His  meat  and  drink 
to  do  His  Father's  will  and  to  finish  His 
work.  He  trod  this  path  alone  and  blazed  the 
way  for  man.  Nay,  He  Himself  became  the 
Way,  that  in  Him  might  be  found  the  royal 
road  to  the  service  of  God  and  man. 

For  winning  the  world,  workers  are  needed 
who  are  willing  to  enter  with  Christ  into  the 
school  of  prayer,  be  led  of  the  Spirit  and  be- 
come intercessors.  It  is  through  intercession 
that  the  hidden  springs  of  life  are  to  be 
touched  ;  hearts  opened  to  divine  grace  ;  the 
choicest  sons  and  daughters  of  our  homes 


THE  PREEMINENCE  OF  CHRIST        281 

set  apart  for  God's  work ;  our  colleges  and 
universities  made  the  reenforcing  centres  of 
religious  activity  ;  the  wealth  of  Christendom 
placed  upon  the  altar  ;  the  Church  become 
the  heart  and  source  of  an  aggressive  Chris- 
tianity ;  and  the  spiritual  forces  of  the  un- 
seen world  unlocked  and  brought  to  bear 
upon  the  unevangelized  millions.  Are  these 
things  possible  ?  They  are  within  our  grasp. 
Nothing  is  impossible  with  God. 

The  great  enterprise  of  missions  can  only 
be  led  by  those  who  are  willing  to  pay  the 
price  of  leadership  in  labours,  in  watchings, 
in  fastings,  in  loneliness,  in  wrestling  with 
principalities  and  the  powers  of  darkness,  in 
sharing  responsibility  for  the  souls  of  men,  in 
bearing  the  world's  burdens  and  in  the  care 
of  all  the  Churches. 

True  leadership  must  have  capacity  for 
vision.  It  is  both  breadth  and  fore-gaze 
that  are  required  of  one  who  is  praying  and 
planning  for  the  extension  of  the  Kingdom. 
Provincialism  and  prejudice  too  often  react 
upon  each  other.  In  the  spiritual  realm, 
failure  in  lifting  power  may  come  from  little- 
ness of  soul.  It  must  be  striven  against.  It 
was  Carlyle  who  said  that  while  we  may  be 
engaged  in  doing  only  parts,  we  must  culti- 
vate the  faculty  of  seeing  wholes.     God  will 


282        THE   PREEMINENCE   OF  CHRIST 

not  be  hampered  in  His  providence  by  limita- 
tions of  time  and  space.  He  works  through 
the  ages  and  beyond  the  bounds  of  man's 
habitation.  He  seeks  men  who,  like  the 
Apostle  to  the  Gentiles,  have  a  vision  of  an 
empire  with  all  its  outlying  provinces,  cities 
and  populations  won  through  a  Gospel 
written  in  world  terms,  and  then  are  ready  to 
follow  the  leadership  of  His  Son  in  the  spirit 
of  implicit  obedience. 

Men  are  ready  to  follow  Jesus  because  by 
His  incarnation  He  made  God  personal, 
made  Him  more  real,  and  convinced  men 
He  was  as  much  love  as  He  was  law ;  as 
merciful  as  He  was  just,  and  that  He  could 
be  a  real  Father  in  His  compassionate  care 
of  His  children  as  well  as  in  His  authority 
over  them.  In  His  own  person,  in  the 
days  of  His  flesh,  Jesus  Christ  became  a 
true  Son  in  obedience  to  the  Father,  and  a 
real  Brother  in  tender  love  and  loyalty  to 
His  brethren. 

Never  was  God  so  completely  identified 
with  humanity  as  in  Jesus  Christ.  Never 
was  Fatherhood  so  beautifully  related  to  son- 
ship  as  in  God  and  man.  Never  was  brother- 
hood so  expanded  and  so  enriched  as  by  the 
Great  Brother  of  the  race  who  condescended 
to  share  the  burdens  of  the  overborne,  to 


THE  PREEMINENCE  OF  CHRIST       283 

impart  strength  to  the  weak,  and  to  save 
unto  eternal  life  those  that  are  lost. 

The  glory  of  God  in  the  perfecting  of  man 
is  the  purpose  of  religion.  God's  supreme 
work  in  creation  was  the  making  of  man. 
Sin's  supreme  work  has  been  man's  unmak- 
ing. Christ  comes  to  recreate  and  restore 
from  a  blurred  and  broken  image  into  a  rich 
and  perfect  life.  '*  Be  ye  perfect  even  as 
your  Father  in  heaven  is  perfect."  Is  not 
this  a  movement  towards  God,  and  in  the  ap- 
proach to  Him,  are  we  not  gradually  filling 
out  our  powers  and  fulfilling  His  purpose  for 
us  ?  Is  it  not  the  meaning  of  the  Apostle 
when  he  repeats  in  his  prayer  for  the 
Ephesians,  *'  And  to  know  the  love  of  Christ 
which  passeth  knowledge  that  ye  might  be 
filled  unto  all  the  fullness  of  God  "  ?  It  is  the 
filling  of  an  empty  life,  the  rounding  out  of 
an  incomplete  life,  the  enrichment  of  a  poverty 
stricken  life,  and  the  discovery  of  a  life  with 
divine  possibilities. 

As  the  ocean,  seeking  the  shores  of  a  great 
continent,  pours  its  tides  into  every  inlet  and 
bay,  floating  the  tiny  barge  and  the  great 
iiner  upon  its  bosom,  so  are  the  rich  currents 
of  divine  love  ever  ready  to  sweep  into  a 
man's  life,  possessing  and  uplifting  until  he 
catches  a  vision  of  that  divine  commerce  be- 


284       THE  PREEMINENCE  OF  CHRIST 

tween  God  and  man,  and  man's  interchange 
of  spiritual  hospitality  with  man  which  brings 
him  to  a  realization  of  his  mission. 

God  is  doing  the  best  He  can  with  man. 
He  is  bent  upon  it.  He  will  not  be  satisfied 
with  less.  His  best  is  beyond  our  power  to 
conceive.  **  Eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard, 
neither  hath  it  entered  into  the  heart  of 
man."  He  begins  the  work  through  Christ 
by  uprooting  the  sin  in  man's  heart,  bursts  the 
bonds  of  deadly  habit,  enlarges  shrunken 
capacity,  restores  blurred  vision,  and  by  His 
creative  power  the  great  Architect  of  souls 
transforms  a  mass  of  ruins  in  man's  moral 
nature  into  a  beautiful  temple  in  which  the 
Spirit  of  holiness  shall  dwell. 

Some  men  are  saying  in  these  latter  days 
that  Christianity  has  failed.  Has  Christianity 
failed  ?  There  is  no  failure  in  vital  Christianity. 
If  there  is  failure  it  is  in  us.  There  may  be 
failure  in  our  faith,  if  so  it  is  bankrupt  and  will 
be  rejected  of  God,  and  should  be  of  man. 
The  salt  that  has  lost  its  savour  is  henceforth 
good  for  nothing,  but  to  be  cast  out  and 
trodden  under  foot  of  men.  There  can  be  no 
failure  in  Christianity  ;  its  centre,  its  very  soul 
is  the  living  Christ. 

The  world  will  not  be  won  by  our  civiliza- 
tion, not  by  our  material  resources,  not  by  our 


THE   PREEMINENCE  OF  CHRIST        285 

institutions,  not  by  our  ideals,  not  by  our 
creeds,  not  by  our  leadership,  but  by  Jesus 
Christ  and  the  preaching  of  His  Gospel.  It 
is  not  our  Gospel,  even,  but  His  ;  it  is  not  our 
power,  but  God's.  The  last  and  final  differ- 
entiation between  our  race,  and  those  of  the 
non-Christian  lands  is  the  measure  of  Christ 
in  our  civilization,  personal  experience,  and 
life.  The  centre  of  Christianity  will  be  with 
us  as  long  as  we  have  most  of  Christ.  When 
as  a  race  we  come  to  have  least  of  Christ,  the 
centre  of  Christianity  will  be  shifted,  and  all 
our  boasted  civilization,  resources,  institu- 
tions, creeds  and  leadership  will  not  save  us 
from  the  dry  rot  of  godlessness. 

After  all,  are  we  not  in  danger  of  claiming 
too  much  ?  Has  Christianity  a  geographical, 
or  a  population  centre  ?  Where  Christ  and 
one  true  believer  is,  there  is  Christianity.  It 
needs  not  a  temple  made  with  hands,  nor  a 
palace,  to  enshrine  His  love.  Christ  may  be 
enthroned  in  the  heart  of  the  humblest,  poor- 
est creature  in  the  universe.  "  All  this,"  said 
an  old  woman  to  Bishop  Burnett,  as  she  held 
up  a  crust,  '*  all  this  and  Christ." 

A  beautiful  recognition  of  the  claims  of  the 
preeminent  and  universal  Christ  was  made  by 
Chili  and  Argentina  when,  upon  the  very 
summit  of  the  Andes  and  on  the  boundary 


286        THE  PREEMINENCE  OF   CHRIST 

line  between  the  two  republics,  was  raised  a 
great  statue  of  the  Prince  of  Peace.  The 
Hon.  Henry  B.  F.  Macfarland,  Commissioner 
for  the  District  of  Columbia,  in  referring  to 
this  statue  and  a  proposed  disarmament  be- 
tween South  American  republics  by  selling 
battle-ships,  remarks : 

"  The  bright  vision  of  universal  peace  must 
wait  upon  Christ  Himself.  He  is  the  One 
and  the  only  One  who  can  keep  peace  be- 
tween nations  or  peace  between  individuals ; 
and  it  is  to  Him  that  we  all  look  for  that  in- 
crease of  international  comity  which  shall 
lead  eventually  to  international  peace,  to 
universal  peace,  when  all  men  and  all  women 
will  be  men  and  women  of  good  will." 

The  world's  hope  of  international  and 
universal  peace  centres  more  and  more  in 
Jesus  Christ.  Outside  of  Him  it  is  a  fiction 
and  a  Utopian  dream.  He  constitutes  its 
hope,  its  inspiration,  and  its  constraining 
motive.  Bands  of  steel  may  girdle  the  con- 
tinents and  bring  the  world  into  a  neighbour- 
hood, but  chains  of  love  can  alone  bind 
humanity  into  a  great  brotherhood.  Only 
upon  the  basis  of  Christian  character  more 
solid  than  granite,  and  upon  the  eternal 
foundations  of  righteousness  and  justice  can 
peace  be  enduring. 


THE  PREEMINENCE  OF  CHRIST        287 

The  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  will  win  the 
world  because  of  its  deep  note  of  joy.  The 
announcement  that  God  was  to  come  to  man 
begins  with  a  song  of  angels,  and  the  record 
closes  with  the  glorious  anthem  of  the  Spirit 
and  the  Bride,  for  man  to  come  to  God. 
*'  And  he  that  is  athirst,  let  him  come  :  He 
that  will,  let  him  take  the  water  of  life  freely." 

Jesus  was  preeminently  a  fountain  of  joy. 
He  was  a  man  of  sorrow  and  acquainted  with 
grief,  but  a  deep  peace  lay  at  the  centre  of  a 
life  which  never  lost  its  poise.  Within  a  few 
hours  of  Calvary  He  could  say — *'  Fulfill  ye 
My  joy."  It  is  the  wholesomeness  of  Jesus' 
life  which  makes  Christianity  wholesome. 
No  abnormal  introspection,  no  straining 
after  character — just  being  true,  always  true, 
that  is  all — a  perfectly  normal  religious  life. 
When  the  world  of  men,  civilized  or  savage, 
once  comes  to  realize  that  love  and  sacrifice 
and  joy  are  bound  up  together  in  a  true 
Christian  life  and  are  never  disassociated, 
but  are  entirely  natural  because  true,  and 
true  because  natural,  then  human  hearts  will 
yield  a  joyful  homage  to  the  preeminent 
Christ. 

The  biographer  of  Henry  Drummond 
writes  of  his  friend,  "  Perhaps  the  most  con- 
spicuous service  he  rendered  his  generation 


288        THE   PREEMINENCE  OF  CHRIST 

was  to  show  them  a  Christianity  which  was 
perfectly  natural." 

After  all,  was  it  not  the  naturalness  of  Jesus 
and  His  unselfish  interest  in  others  which 
won  the  common  people  and  especially  chil- 
dren ?  It  always  wins.  There  was  no  sham, 
no  affectation,  no  self-seeking — all  sincerity, 
all  interest  in  others,  all  forgetfulness  of  self. 
It  is  this  very  sincerity  and  transparency  of 
character  in  the  missionary  which  most 
quickly  wins  the  heart  of  the  pagan  and 
even  that  of  the  savage.  The  latter  is  a 
shrewd  observer.  He  searches  with  quick 
eye  for  the  motive  that  is  central  in  life  and, 
finding  it  sound,  yields  his  confidence  with 
amazing  readiness.  Deceive  him,  and  you 
lose  him  forever. 

When  the  central  motive  is  love,  the  life 
becomes  almost  irresistible.  Moody  said  of 
Drummond  :  **  Some  men  take  an  occasional 
journey  into  the  thirteenth  of  First  Cor- 
inthians, but  Henry  Drummond  was  a  man 
who  lived  there,  constantly  appropriating 
its  blessings  and  exemplifying  its  teaching. 
.  .  .  All  the  time  we  were  together  he 
was  a  Christlike  man  and  often  a  rebuke  to 
me."  It  was  the  song  of  love  in  Drum- 
mond's  heart,  the  high  note  of  joy  ready  for 
any  service,  prepared  for  any  sacrifice. 


THE  PREEMINENCE  OF  CHRIST        289 

These  are  days  when  the  forces  that  make 
for  a  world-wide  Christianity  must  go  for- 
ward. But  it  is  not  sufficient  to  sound  the 
bugle  note  for  an  advance.  There  must  be 
a  deeper  spiritual  note  preceding  it,  without 
which  no  advance  can  be  made.  The  Cap- 
tain must  be  sought  for  on  the  field,  and  at 
the  front,  not  in  the  rear.  His  voice  be  heard 
and  His  spirit  pervade  the  force,  then  Chris- 
tian conquest  is  sure.  To  send  men  forward, 
without  preparation,  without  discipline  and 
without  the  sacrificial  spirit  is  to  rush  weak- 
lings to  the  front  and  to  imperil  the  cause. 

Robert  Louis  Stevenson  says :  **  There  is 
one  fable  that  touches  very  near  the  quick  of 
life — the  fable  of  the  monk  who  passed  into 
the  woods,  heard  a  bird  break  into  song, 
hearkened  for  a  trill  or  two,  and  found  him- 
self at  his  return  a  stranger  at  his  convent 
gates  ;  for  he  had  been  absent  fifty  years,  and 
of  all  his  comrades  there  survived  but  one  to 
recognize  him." 

In  commenting  upon  the  fable  he  adds : 
**  All  life  that  is  not  merely  mechanical  is 
spun  out  of  two  strands, — seeking  for  that 
bird  and  hearing  him."  Should  he  not  have 
added  a  third  strand — the  joy  of  telling 
others  ?  This  last,  though  unconscious,  per- 
haps, was  the  secret  of  Stevenson's  power. 


290        THE   PREEMINENCE  OF  CHRIST 

He  told  what  thrilled  his  own  soul,  and  what 
he  felt,  with  such  a  sense  of  joy  and  whole- 
heartedness  that  the  world  found  a  new  in- 
terpretation of  friendship  through  him. 

Doctor  Fosdick  says  :  "  When  a  poet  takes 
fire  from  Jesus'  joyful  conception  of  God,  he 
pictures,  as  Browning  does  in  *  Saul,'  a  man 
longing  to  help  his  friend,  and  then  pictures 
him  rising  from  this  human  love  towards 
God  to  cry : 

**  *  Would  I  suffer  for  him  that  I  love?     So  wouldst 

Thou — so  wilt  Thou  ! 
So   shall  crown   Thee   life's  topmost,  ineffablest, 

uttermost  crown — 
And  Thy  love  full  infinitude  wholly,  nor  leave  up 

nor  down 
One  spot  for  the  creature  to  stand  in  ! ' 

This  thought  of  God  is  peculiarly  Jesus'  con- 
tribution to  the  world,  and  no  other  ever 
compared  with  it  in  joyousness.  It  stands 
to  reason  that  no  gloomy  soul  ever  really 
held,  much  less  originated  such  a  jubilant 
conception  of  Deity.  Out  of  this  thought  of 
God  a  boundless  hope  inevitably  comes."  ^ 

The  place  of  Jesus  Christ  in  the  Apostolic 
Church  has  a  beautiful  illustration  in  the 
epistle  addressed  by  Peter  to  the  strangers 
scattered  here  and  there.     He  styles  himself 

1  H.  E.  Fosdick,  *«  The  Manhood  of  the  Master,"  p.  13. 


THE  PREEMINENCE  OF  CHRIST       291 

the  apostle  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  speaks  of 
Him  as  the  Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  souls. 
He  blesses  God  for  the  lively  hope  which  has 
come  to  men  by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus 
Christ  from  the  dead  ;  expresses  the  desire 
that  their  faith  might  be  found  unto  praise 
and  honour  and  glory  at  the  appearance  of 
Jesus  Christ ;  and  reminds  them  of  the  cruci- 
fied One  whom  he  denied,  but  to  whom  he 
now  offers  the  homage  of  his  soul.  Love  for 
the  preeminent  Christ  gushes  forth  as  from 
a  fountain  in  the  words :  "  Whom  having  not 
seen  ye  love  ;  in  whom,  though  now  ye  see 
Him  not,  yet  believing,  ye  rejoice  with  joy 
unspeakable  and  full  of  glory  .  .  .  that 
God  in  all  things  may  be  glorified  through 
Jesus  Christ  to  whom  be  praise,  and  do- 
minion, forever  and  ever.  Amen." 

To  the  Philippian  Church  Paul  seems  most 
freely  to  have  expressed  his  affection  and 
communicated  his  central  motive.  He  re- 
minds them  that  they  have  been  in  his  heart 
and  partakers  of  his  grace  while  in  bonds 
and  in  the  defense  and  confirmation  *of  the 
Gospel.  He  longs  for  them  in  the  tender 
mercies  of  Jesus  Christ ;  he  prays  that  their 
love  may  abound  yet  more  and  more  in 
knowledge  and  in  all  judgment,  that  they 
may  be  sincere  and  without  offense  till  the 


292        THE  PREEMINENCE  OF  CHRIST 

day  of  Jesus  Christ ;  that  they  may  be  filled 
with  the  fruits  of  righteousness  which  are  by 
Jesus  Christ ;  rejoices  that  his  very  bonds 
have  been  helpful  in  securing  a  hearing  for 
the  Gospel  of  Christ ;  is  confident  that  this 
shall  turn  to  his  salvation  through  their  prayer 
of  intercession  and  by  the  supply  of  the  Spirit 
of  Jesus  Christ ;  and  then  with  a  final  out- 
burst of  faith  and  hope,  he  exclaims,  "  In 
nothing  shall  I  be  put  to  shame,  but  that 
with  all  boldness,  as  always,  so  now  also 
Christ  shall  be  magnified  in  my  body, 
whether  by  life  or  by  death.  For  to  me  to 
live  is  Christ  and  to  die  is  gain."  Then  fix- 
ing his  gaze,  as  it  were,  upon  the  Son  of  God 
who  had  become  obedient  unto  death,  even 
the  death  of  the  cross,  he  exclaims  with  pro- 
phetic vision,  **  Wherefore  also  God  highly 
exalted  Him,  and  gave  unto  Him  the  name 
which  is  above  every  name  ;  that  in  the  name 
of  Jesus  every  knee  should  bow,  of  things  in 
heaven  and  things  on  earth  and  things  under 
the  earth,  and  that  every  tongue  should  con- 
fess that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord,  to  the  glory  of 
God  the  Father." 

The  more  one  ponders  the  words  of  West- 
cott  the  more  convincing  their  truth.  **  The 
absolute  uniqueness  of  Christianity  lies  in 
this,  that  its  capacity  for  good  is  universal 


THE   PREEMINENCE  OF  CHRIST        293 

and  in  itself  without  alloy."  Herein  rests  the 
distinction  between  it  and  all  other  religious 
faiths.  Its  capacity  for  good  includes  all 
need,  all  time,  and  all  men  without  respect  of 
race,  location  or  class.  It  is  in  itself,  and 
without  alloy,  that  its  good  is  found,  because 
that  good  is  not  based  upon  the  abstract,  nor 
upon  the  ideal,  not  upon  institutions  nor 
creeds,  but  upon  Christ.  Without  Christ 
there  is  no  Christianity.  Take  Christ  out 
and  it  is  bankrupt  in  morals,  in  faith  and  in 
spiritual  power.  The  Christianity,  so  called, 
which  uses  the  name  to  cloak  its  hypocrisy, 
professionalism  and  selfishness,  is  not  worthy 
the  name. 

It  is  the  Christ  of  the  resurrection — the  liv- 
ing Christ — the  world  needs.  He  is  all  in  all. 
Without  Him,  nature  is  nothing  but  blind 
force,  life  a  riddle,  and  death  a  tragic  col- 
lapse. Tear  Christ — the  living  Christ — out 
of  the  universe  and  faith  shrivels,  hope  turns 
to  ashes,  and  man  gazes  into  the  future  in  the 
spirit  of  defeat  and  despair. 

Shall  we  say  there  is  no  resurrection  from 
the  dead  ?  Then  Christ  has  not  been  raised 
and  we  have  a  dead  Christ.  Hear  the  con- 
fession of  Paul,  the  once  arch  enemy  of  Christ, 
who  had  denounced  the  faith,  breathed  out 
threatenings  and  slaughter,  and  challenged 


294        THE   PREEMINENCE  OF   CHRIST 

the  Lord  whom  he  had  persecuted.  '*  If 
Christ  hath  not  been  raised,  then  is  our 
preaching  vain,  your  faith  also  is  vain.  Yea, 
and  we  are  found  false  witnesses  of  God ; 
because  we  witnessed  of  God  that  He  raised 
up  Christ  .  .  .  and  if  Christ  hath  not 
been  raised,  your  faith  is  vain,  ye  are  yet  in 
your  sins.  Then  they  also  that  have  fallen 
asleep  in  Christ  have  perished.  If  we  have 
only  hoped  in  Christ  in  this  life,  we  are  of  all 
men  most  pitiable.  But  now  hath  Christ 
been  raised  from  the  dead,  the  first  fruits  of 
them  that  are  asleep." 

In  an  art  gallery  in  London,  a  few  years 
since,  I  spent  an  evening  studying  a  private 
collection  of  paintings  by  Russian  artists. 
Among  them  was  a  scene  upon  the  plains  of 
Manchuria.  A  lone  cross  upon  a  once  hotly- 
contested  battle-field  in  the  war  with  Japan. 
Two  figures  kneeling  in  the  long  grass — a 
Russian  lady  of  rank  and  her  little  daughter, 
from  Moscow  perhaps,  and  standing  by  her 
side  with  bowed  head,  the  stalwart  son. 
That  was  all,  save  the  blood-red  poppies 
thrusting  their  heads  through  the  rank  grass 
and  an  evergreen  freshly  planted  at  the  head 
of  that  grave  of  buried  hopes.  Tragedy ! 
Death  !— Yes,  but  the  conquering  sign — and 
the     resurrection.      "  All    human    sorrows," 


THE   PREEMINENCE  OF  CHRIST        295 

writes  the  author  of  **  Ecce  Homo,"  **  hide  in 
His  wounds  ;  and  human  self-denials  lean  on 
His  cross." 

All  of  Manchuria,  all  the  world  is  not  big 
enough  for  the  grave  of  human  faith  if  we 
have  Christ.  Had  it  not  been  for  Christ — 
the  transcendent  Force  which  burst  the  bonds 
of  nature,  of  Roman  seal  and  guard,  and  of 
death  itself ;  the  stony  sepulchre  of  Joseph  of 
Arimathea  would  have  held  forever  the  ashes 
of  man's  shattered  hopes.  Almost  as  old  as 
the  race  are  the  words  of  Job — '*  I  know  that 
my  redeemer  liveth."  Ours  is  a  vital  faith 
in  a  living  Lord — the  Lord  of  glory  who  said 
of  Himself,  "I  am  the  resurrection  and  the 
life.  He  that  believeth  in  Me  though  he 
were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live."  Jesus  Christ 
is  the  world's  dynamic.  May  not  the  tri- 
umphant note  of  the  great  singer  of  Israel 
become  the  antiphony  to-day  of  the  army  of 
redeemed  and  blood-washed  souls,  who  go 
forth  to  meet  their  conquering  Lord  ?  "  Lift 
up  your  heads,  O  ye  gates ;  even  lift  them 
up,  ye  everlasting  doors ;  and  the  King  of 
glory  shall  come  in.  Who  is  this  King  of 
glory?  The  Lord  of  hosts,  He  is  the  King 
of  glory." 

PRINTED   IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 


SERMONS— LECTURLS-ADDRESSES 

JAMES  L.  GORDON,    P.P. 

Airs  Love  Yet  All*s  Law 

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of  the  scope  of  his  preaching.  'The  lyaw  of  Truth:  The 
Science  of  Universal  Relationships';  'The  Law  of  Inspiration: 
The  Vitalizing  Power  of  Truth';  'The  Law  of  Vibratien'; 
*The  Law  of  Beauty:  The  Spiritualizing  Power  of  Thought'; 
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BISHOP  hRANCIS  J.  McCONNELL         Cole  Lectures 

Personal  Christianity 

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III.  The  Mastery  of  World-Views.  IV.  The  Invigoration 
of  Morality.  V.  The  Control  of  Social  Advance.  VI. 
"Every  Kindred,  and   People,  and  Tongue." 

NEWELL  PWIGHT  HILLIS,  P.P. 

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Beecher 

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DEVOTIONAL 


JOHN  HENRY  JOfVETT 

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HOMILETICS  AND  CHURCH  WORK 


CHARLES  SILVESTER   HORNE  Yale  Lectures  on 

'  Preaching 

The  Romance  of  Preaching 

With  an  Introduction  by  Charles  R.  Brown,  D.D., 
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''From  the  days  when  Henry  Ward  Beecher  gave  the  first 
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University  .  .  .  the  task  of  inspiring  young  ministers  ta 
nobler  effort  in  their  high  calling,  has  been  well  performed. 
But  among  all  the  lecturers  few  have  ever  so  gripped  the 
divinity  students,  the  larger  audience  _  of  pastors  in  active 
service,  as  did  Silvester  Home.  The  intellectual  distinction 
which  marked  his  utterances,  the  fine  literary  form  in  which 
they  were  phrased,  the  moral  passion  which  ^ave  to  their 
delivery  that  energy  which  belongs  to  words  which  are  'spirit 
and  life,'  together  with  the  rare  spiritual  insight  displayed 
ail  combined  to  make  notable  the  service  rendered  by  Mr. 
Home  to  Yale  University." — Charles  R.  Brown,  D,D.,  Dean 
of  Yale  Divinity  School. 

The  last  message  of  a  leader  of  men. 

BISHOP  THOMAS  B.  NEELY,  Of  the  Methodist 
^                  Episcopal  Church 

The  Minister  in  the  Itinerant  System 

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<he  burden  of  the  book  is  a  full  discussion  of  the  bearing  of 
it  all  on  the  minister  himself.  It  was  to  be  presumed  of 
course  that  a  Methodist  bishop  would  conclude  that  'the  sys- 
tem should  be  maintained'  and  even  that  'the  appointing 
power  should  be  untrammelled';  but  it  is  none  the  less  in- 
teresting to  follow  the  argument.  We  do  not  know  any  other 
book  which  states  the  whole  case  with  such  eminent  fair- 
ness."— The  Continent. 

EDMUND  S.  LORENZ,  B.  D. 

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suggestire  and  every  suggestion  is  eminently  practical.  The 
book  cloaes  with  a  worthy  appendix  dealing  with  musical  and 
hymnological  books  worth  owning,  choice  church  music  for 
choir. and  solo  use,  and  suggestive  outlines  and  subjects  fof 
fng  sermons  and  song  services." — Advance. 


ESSAYS  AND  STUDIES 


JOSEPH  FOR  T  NE  WTON  Author  of  "  The  Eternal 

— ■  Christ,     '  David  S-wing 

What  Have  the  Saints  to  Teach  Us? 

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the  Mystic  Way  are  the  leaders  and  guides;  and  there  is 
muck  in  our  time  which  invites  their  leadership." — Preface. 

JOHN  BALCOM  SHAW,  P.P. 


The  Angel  in  the  Sun 

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In  The  Sun"  is  a  refreshing  and  enheartening  book;  the 
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PHILIP   MAURO 

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The  second  part  contains  some  affirmative  teachingr  relating 
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PROF.  LEE  R.  SCARBOROUGH 

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PRINCIPAL  ALEXANPER   WHYTE,  P.  P. 

Thirteen  Appreciations 

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Work  of  high  authority,  revealing  on  every  page  the  man  who 
Wrote  it. 


TRAVEL  AND  DESCRIPTION 


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FRANCIS  E.    CLARK,   P.P. 

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"THE  STRANGER  WITHIN  OUR  GATES'* 

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QUESTIONS  OF  THE  DAY 


FREDERICK   tV.    PEA  BODY 

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J.    A.    PHILLIPS  Missionary  of  the  Meihodist  Episcopal 

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SOCIOLOGICAL 


HAROLD    BEGBIE 

The  Crisis  of  Morals 

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ERNEST  GORDON 

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L.     H.     HAMMOND  Author  of '  *  TAe  Master  WonT* 

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FRANK  TRACY  CARLTON      Prof,  of  History  and  Economics 
•  Albion  College,  Mtch, 

The  Industrial  Situation 

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IMMIGRANTS  IN  THE  MAKING 

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in  preparation. 


QUESTIONS  OF  THE  DAY 


REV.    D.  M.  CANRIGHT 

The  Lord's  Day  Neither  from  Catho- 
lics Nor  Pagans 

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The  object  of  this  volume  is  to  combat  the  Seventh-Day- 
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Roman  Catholic  Church. 

J.    J.    TAYLOR 

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all  that  the  Scriptures  of  both  the  Old  Testament  and  the  New 
have  to  say  concerning  the  Sabbath." — Journal  and  Messenger. 

ARTHUR   V.  BABBS,   A.B. 

The  Law  of  the  Tithe 

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tion.    i2mo,  cloth,  net  $i.oo. 

"Covers  the  ground  admirably,  drawing  illustrations  from 
every   Biblical   source,   including  the   Babylon   talmud." 

— Z ion's  Herald. 

CHURCH  WORK 

CHARLES  STELZLE 

The  Call  of  the  New  Day  to  the  Old 

Church      i2mo,  boards,  net  25c. 

What  the  Church  needs  of  new  equipment,  in  order  that 
her  answer  should  be  full  and  adequate  is  here  discussed  in 
Mr.  Stelzle's  straight  from  the  shoulder  fashion. 

PROF.  JOHN  A.  KERN 

Vision  and  Power  Cloth,  net  $1.50. 

A  study  of  the  Ministry  of  Preaching.  Prof.  Kern  con- 
tends strongly  for  the  power  of  the  personal  touch  in  the 
preacher,  emphasizing  the  agreement  that  the  Church  of 
Christ  herself  is  founded  on  Truth  as  expressed  in  Personality. 
The  "ground-plan"  of  the  work  is  Peter's  vision  at  Joppa,_  the 
various  clauses  of  which  form  the  sub-divisions  of  the  subject. 

BISHOP  THOMAS  B.  NEELY 

American  Methodism 

Its  Division  and  Unification.    Cloth,  net  $1.50. 

Dr.  Neely  knows  the  history  of  his  church  as  few  men 
know  it,  and  the  fruit  of  this  knowledge  is  here  presented. 
He  has  ransacked  the  annals  of  Methodism  and  brought  to- 
gether many  historical  facts,  never  before  issued  in  book 
form.     An  important,  authoritative  volume. 


Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Libraries 


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